Mr Reaper

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

Mr Reaper Part 4 was written for Shibuya Operation - Story Storm (SOSS); previous chapters (Parts 0 and 1) were posted during Twelve Shots of Summer (TSoS).

...

Part 4 - Mr Subject

Months Ago...

"Have you ever wondered… what it may be like to go wherever you want, see what you want, without having anything take you adrift?"

"..."

"Well, I mean… take a look at yourself. You have no idea where this is, or what's going on, right? You're stuck here, practically dripping from the head down with idle movement… Makes me wonder if you're intentionally trying to screw things over for yourself."

"..."

"Let me tell you…" A grunt sounded. "It's not fun, picking up the pieces when you've scattered them asunder. It's like you want me to repeat what I did five hours ago, with how much you keep squirming around- giving me headaches!"

"..."

"I'm only trying to help you, my friend. I don't expect you to care, since you're broken up for me to fiddle with you... but not in the sense that I'll screw you over like the others had. ...Can't have you disappearing on me."

"..."

"I've been at this rearrangement for several days, you know. Was tough ironing out what you have for me, but I hope that whatever you get out of it works for you."

"..."

"I'm not trying to win you over, is what I'm trying to say. Protocol is damn shit, and I won't always just come on by to see how you're making out. We fix you up, then we split. Or, rather, we leave you on a limb and expect for you to pick up the rest. You may understand that's a heavily flawed system, but it's what we have."

"..."

"We can't create attachments in our field, you know. It would only make it difficult for us…"

"..."

"So basically… once you're finished, and I give you the lowdown, you then can flash out the fireworks I'll be giving you. Already got your arsenal on file… got it laid out for your cherry-picking… Or, if you really love them… don't be afraid to go wild and give your opponents shit! Give it all you got, because you will pave the way only the way you know!"

"..."

"Make me proud. Heheh."

"..."

"You're going to be great..."

"..."

"Don't forget that…"

- 1975 -
Present Day

There was no way of saying it without taking a look at the cold, hard facts...

The Harrier tugged his blanket closer to him; frowning.

He was a fool for thinking the Composer would agree to this. Of all the people in the Underground, he thought the Composer wasn't punishing him Himself because the Composer actually liked what the Harrier was doing.

Letting out a groan, he closed his eyes and frowned more. What a loaded assumption…

Around him, the Harrier was aware of how Reapers were preparing themselves for the new Day. ...Apparently it was; the Harrier hadn't realized he let a whole Day pass by without it even occurring to him until now. Despite how he would usually scold himself for wasting time like this... he simply stayed where he was, wallowing in his thoughts rather than following his common sense to get up and do shit.

...But what did it matter anyway? The thing he enthused about and flaunted for all to see was the one thing the Composer was disappointed in- disapproved of. Wouldn't that show such disrespect to rip out his all and do the said thing the Composer wasn't happy for? The message was made clear... who else was needed to spell it out for him?

If the Composer didn't want to legalize it… what use would there be in doing it?

For a long time, he laid still, shallowly breathing and hardly feeling anything as he heard rustles and footfalls everywhere. Or, at least, he didn't give a damn for concentrating on each and every aspect that went on around him right now. However, what he was aware of- what he actually paid attention to for one split second- was how one vulture peaked their head in. The Harrier knew full-well what they were going to say to him...

"...there's no time in staying there," the male said in slight urgency; must have missed the other shit. "Debriefing starts in five minutes, and-"

"Don't be late…" he mumbled out, trying to burrow deeper under his shitty covers. He felt the Reaper stare at him and simply tacked on with a groan, "Can't have you being late for something you're going to…"

"A-Aren't you getting out of bed?" the Reaper asked bemusedly.

The Harrier shrugged against the plank-mattress. "Don't feel like it."

"...Are you sick?"

"Could you do yourself a favour and skedaddle," he sighed as he all but shoved his face against his pillow. "It's not even your business anyway…" he mumbled after a few seconds and left his face there.

For a brief moment, he half-expected the Reaper to keep badgering him, yet when the Reaper left, the Harrier hardly cared if the guy had stayed out of altruism. The Harrier didn't have to explain himself… what was there to explain to a Reaper who didn't care about killing wrongdoers like the rest of them anyway? It was that simple.

Keeping his eyes closed, he discovered that it wasn't so bad to stare at his eyelids than the darkness he dreaded each night. At least, for him, he could control how much he could see or if he should be seeing at all. He wasn't sure if Andy was waiting on him, but the thought of seeing her wasn't the issue. The fact that despite how he knew he was awake, he couldn't summon the energy to lift himself up and actually get his ass off of this pathetic excuse for a bed. He could probably lay here and stare at the wall all he wanted, to not move a single inch because the pressing heaviness from inside wasn't giving a damn for letting his body actually function as it should be.

For all he cared, he wasn't planning on fixing that any time soon...

To be completely frank, he thought gloomily, he didn't have a reason to go out; the posh bastard fixed that for him. He had about more than two months to sort out his assholeish self, and somehow reveal he can do things other than screwing with everyone around him or killing for the need to stop victims from falling into the clutches of the Underground. ...At least, that's what the sadist told him. Not that he wanted to do that; all he wanted was to lie here, even if he could move, and just drown in his sorrows with the damn knowledge his aspiration wasn't going to leave a mark on the Composer or matter to the Man in-charge. He could very well dress it up with a new bow and rework it all he wanted… but if the Composer rejected each gift without hesitation, then the Harrier supposed what he was doing all this time was nothing.

Lazily, he shifted his head, blinking his eyes half-open to count the number of indents and bumps the wall had. At least with that, it meant something. If someone cared about perfectly flat walls, he'd be the guy to tell it straight to wall-lover person this wall needed a serious overhaul.

...It was so quiet now… No one here, nothing to bother him… except it all bothered him.

He didn't regret his decision to shoo off the Reaper from before, and yet he couldn't care like he usually did that he wasn't with something that actually moved and breathed. Or, people, if you may. Call it loneliness all you want… but he could only view it with a side of numbness that promised he deserved this. He didn't deserve to be around people if they didn't want anything to do with him… or what he cared about… or who he was as a person…

While his mind brought up the 'helpful' suggestion that Andy met all of those requirements… he couldn't help but disregard it. Andy thought the Composer's letter changed nothing; thought the Composer of all people was never a person… He knew it bothered him, but hearing her faithlessness shook him, even when it didn't occur to him at the time. He was so lost in the moment that thinking back on it now didn't do much to spur him on to go out and look for his only friend...

Exhaustion came down on him all of a sudden within the last minute he laid awake. He wasn't certain if he was weak or still exhausted, but he simply chose to close his eyes again.

The thought of replaying the nightmares wasn't a cause for concern… In a sense, it somewhat comforted him, knowing how fucked up everything was as it was the catalyst to his eternal sufferment. Here he thought he'd found what he should be doing with himself… only for it to be unwelcomed by all. He knew he was smart, but maybe he was an idiot who thought he was smart to think this was exactly what his fellow Underground dwellers should be doing to make a difference in the goddamn world that doesn't even give a shit.

For how it was the one thing that gave him purpose… it had to be another thing shunned by the universe.

On the top of his head, there wasn't anything else he could have been doing. Erasing Players like the rest of the vultures didn't really tempt his appetite; his palate still sang on the simple notion that anyone who didn't deserve to be punished here would only be soot and ash in his mouth. Wrongdoers? Well, the thought of doing his old haunt made him feel ten-times worse, knowing the outcome of those meals wouldn't leave him much to savour. Like... if you ate something too much, it would start to become bland and was limited in the dazzlement department of what it could do to the pleasure centres of your brain from the flavour department. Not that it was getting bland to him, it didn't make him thrilled to eat like he used to because of the current circumstances...

The Harrier was aware of how his mind was starting to settle, going blank as it prepped itself for sleep… Might as well bite the bullet, there wasn't much use in contending the chance for nightmares if he was too exhausted to give a shit for getting out of bed. After all, beds were meant for sleeping, not for assholes who had nothing left to do but complain about them…

...The beds were still shit, though.

Throughout the time he had been here, he began to think the Days were blurring; the world was continuing on without him… He wasn't sure what was going on, he just found it was easier to sleep away the shitty feeling of feeling nothing inside than actually caring about what he was missing.

At one point, he could have sworn Jimmy came in; his mind latched onto the voice despite how the words were lost to him. One second the Support was present, then in the next... the Harrier was alone again.

His mind must have conjured the supposed instance of hearing Andy yelling and screaming outside the entryway... He was soon drifting off, feeling as if he must have imagined it because he could hardly remember anything but the thought she had been nearby at some point.

It was easier to let himself laze and forget about who he was to accept the sweet, loving embrace of melancholia. To feel like shit and feel no shit at the same time, having the sensations contradicting themselves... made it better- Or, could he say with fullness that it made it worse for him for the best? Whatever it was... he kept his eyes closed and faithfully waited to fall asleep every moment he woke up.

Sometimes, it seemed like someone was trying to shake the Harrier awake by the shoulder. In such times, he willed whatever was left of his energy to allow himself to stay limp and try to slip into unconsciousness again. The feeling of heat on the other side of his shit blanket was what he was aware of; feeling it burn and feeling it linger even when he thought the person was gone. Whoever dared to touch him and disturb his session of 'letting everything drift from him when he was perfectly fine with wasting away' would have annoyed him... had he not given up on letting that get to him by now…

He wondered, one time, when he was awake long enough to think, if this was worth it. Even after giving up, was it worth it to stay lying down forever? To occupy a spot that could be filled with someone who did matter? He wondered if the posh bastard was the type of person to be fed up with inactive Reapers, and would throw them out into the streets if they didn't so much as move anymore... At least, outside, he would serve a purpose of setting the scenery as a human pylon, for Reapers to walk around because it was an inconvenience to them… After all, being an inconvenience appeared to be the only thing he was good at...

Maybe, he supposed, he would be Erased for becoming a self-made vegetable...

...And maybe, that would be for the best.

Something was coaxing him out of his listless ponders; perhaps shaky guy was doing another session of 'shaking-him-for-no-shits' again… The hand on his shoulder wouldn't relent and kept trying to get his attention, yet he ignored it as much as he could before the sound of screams finally punctured the suffocating veil cast over him.

Some Reaper was talking to him; he knew they were. However, he couldn't make out what they were saying. He didn't know if it because of how his hearing was shit, from the screams and yells floating in and out of his mind... or if it was from the growls and distorted gurgles…

Blinking, he drearily made out how the sound of metal was scraping loudly- crashes were being made from behind him- then he slowly became aware of how his shoulder was being shaken, almost abusively-

The Reaper above him rawfully yelled, "...Are you listening to me!? We need to evacuate!"

"...Sounds fun," he managed to mumble out. To be frank, he hardly felt touched by the urgency the other Reaper had or the roaring that made itself known to him. "Don't feel like it, though." He kept his eyes shut and deigned to phase out the person's voice.

"...Don't be nuts- they're destroying the place!" the Reaper cried in terror.

Well then, that hadn't gone to plan.

"Good that they're stretching their legs…" he supplied and stayed put. Maybe if he focused less on what was talking to him, and more for the fact it was bothersome... he could very well mute the noise and go back to sleep.

"...Why aren't you scared!? ...We need to go now!" Ahah... looks like he was getting some progress in.

"What's to be scared about Noise who know what they're doing…?" he muttered helpfully, waiting a few seconds before deciding to nail the point of this. "Why don't you go if it's so bad?"

"...I-I don't know what's wrong with you, but-"

"Is everyone out?" came a voice from the entryway. Oh good; more useless vultures here to 'save the Day'. "What are you doing!?"

"Trying to get this sack of shit out of here! He's not cooperating with me!"

"Are you serious!? We have to leave now and figure out how to get rid of these monsters until the Conductor arrives!"

"Not when he's being difficult!"

"Ditch him then if he's a stubborn ass about it."

That was the best suggestion a vulture ever had… He was proud of them.

When the hand still barely-hovered over his shoulder, he simply waited for them to do the obvious solution... then it felt like they were trying to bat away his blanket and slung their hands under his arms. Oh well... looks like they were going to be persistent. But either way, it didn't really matter; if hero complex guy wanted a quick fix, let him have his quick fix. And even if he had left, the Noise would find a use for the Harrier Reaper. Speaking of which… there were many of them? Huh, wonder who summoned the little rascals…

"He's not worth it if you have to drag him out of here! Just go!"

"But-"

"Yeah, why don't you go if I'm not in the mood?" the Harrier asked, suddenly feeling as though someone had planted cotton in his mouth just now. "You're only going to get Erased if you think you're doing me any favours…"

"Oh my god!"

"What is it!?" cried the Reaper from above.

"D-Drop him!"

"What!?"

"H-He's got- Get away from him now! C'mon!"

"We can't just leave him-"

"Yes we can because you're being an idiot!"

Whatever was said next, he must have missed it. Thus, other than the fact there were still Noise in the room… the Harrier could say he had peace and quiet again. Good; he might as well go back to sleep...

As he tried to readjust his position, seeing as the Reaper ruined how he was lying down, he could have sworn the yelling had continued even though there was no one here anymore... Then footfalls sounded, and before the Harrier knew it, he heard a voice again.

...That was short-lived solitude at it's finest.

"Harrier Reapers: Scatter your positions, Pact with each others' shadow and do not separate from one another. You need to take down the Noise as you can and try to find the leader," came the posh bastard's stern barkings. "We cannot allow for the Noise to leave the room, lest we want them rioting throughout the Shibuya River."

For some reason, it was close by... or maybe he was at the entryway as more footfalls filed in? The Harrier couldn't tell. "In the meantime," continued the man. "I need you Support Reapers to search those who had been present in the room earlier and find the source."

"...What about the Harrier?"

"Which Harrier Reaper do you speak of?"

"The one on the bed."

"...Do not be concerned with him. I only want the rest of you to concentrate on containing the threat," the posh bastard sharply told them.

A few seconds later, the sounds of Psyches started piling up on each other. It was enough to deafen each other; creating a confusion of where one Psych would end and where another would begin, but it wasn't important to him because it all too quickly became white noise to his ears. What the Harrier was aware of was how the Conductor was even closer. "...Why is it that when trouble is afoot I find you at the root of it?"

The Harrier simply remained silent, save for the small groan he made when a shriek pierced the air.

"Explain yourself," strictly breathed the posh bastard. "Why are you refusing to leave the premises when all is but disorder as the Noise are destroying this room? Are you the culprit behind this heinous event?"

"...I'm tired," the Harrier mumbled quietly.

"I am not allowing for any rationalization at this moment in time. Answer my questions."

"Not sure what's going on…" the Harrier replied hoarsely, shrugging into the bed. "I just want to sleep… okay?"

"If you must be so stubborn..." The Conductor's voice became mutters, only becoming louder when he sternly demanded, "Show me your taot papers."

The Harrier would have loved to do that if he hadn't already explained why he couldn't leave the Barracks, even if he wasn't occupying the bed that was the closest to the exit... He experimentally tried moving one of his hands just to show the posh bastard he couldn't do jackshit, only for something to be stolen from one of his hands… Huh?

"...Your taot paper were not enough to sustain them, so it is no wonder why the Noise are so apoplectic. Why do you have defective taot paper in your possession?" asked the posh bastard sternly; rips sounded before distorted yowling came.

"Forgot to go to an Officer…" the Harrier said faintly.

"How long ago was this?"

Sighing weakly, the Harrier replied, "I don't know."

"Further information would suffice."

"After we saw each other last?" The Harrier grimaced subtly.

"Oh for the love of- Why must you-"

"Sir!" sharply came another Reaper's voice. "There's more Noise arriving on scene!"

"More Noise?" repeated the posh bastard in snippy seriousness. "That cannot be possible. The only reason why that would be... would be if…"

"S-Sir?"

"...Go inform your fellow Reapers outside to secure the area. Impede entry until further notice."

"Y-Yes, Sir!"

"...As for you- do not move."

Hard to fail at that if he weren't so leaden… unless the man was referring to another Reaper.

"And Support Reaper."

"Y-Yes, Sir?"

"Seek out Officer Reapers, as many as you can find, and bring them to me posthaste."

"Y-Yes, Sir. On it."

"...For the time being, I need you to remain calm. Or rather, I need you to avoid focusing on what you were ruminating on before this occurred. I am going to put you into Stasis."

Stasis? Wasn't that only used for... only used for... used for... only for-

Groaning, the Harrier couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach when he started to drift into awareness. His eyes fluttered as he tried opening them, only to receive a blurry sneak peek of the room he was in...

But that mostly entailed admiring the ceiling for a brief moment, if he were to be frank.

He gave another attempt at opening his eyes, half-succeeding as he all but achieved a lazy blink before his eyelids curtained his vision again. 'What… happened?' he thought bemusedly as he grimaced, aware of a pulsation of his head and feeling as if he was floating even though he knew he was on his back on a…

A nice, comfy bed…

The Harrier smiled without restraint. He wiggled his head to burrow it further into the fleecy pillow below, sighing contently. Man… did the posh bastard actually listen to him about upgrading the beds in the-

Widening his eyes- ignoring the fact he kept them open this time- he pushed himself up only for his vision to double as he slanted sideways like he was a clumsy drunkard. His stomach dropped as he fluently slipped off the bed in horror before something pulled him back up by the scruff of his hoodie, firmly but gently pressing him back down by his chest where he had been originally moments later. They hadn't even bothered to unwind the blanket that twisted around the Harrier's-

When the Harrier's vision somewhat cleared, he all but gawked in abject appall at the sadist, who sat in a wooden chair close to the bed.

"What the fuck!?" he shouted as he scrambled backwards to lean into the opposite side of the bed, bristling as his heart drummed against his chest. "Why the fuck do you keep appearing everywhere I go, dammit!? D-Do you have anything better to do- no- do you do anything else but stalk me!?"

As he stared at the other man charily, the sadist merely gave a sigh in response.

"Shut your pie-hole," muttered the sadist; his gaze was on the papers he had been leafing through when the Harrier had spoken. He licked his thumb then nonchalantly flipped a page for it to drape over the top portion, soon grunting, "I know you're confused, but would you wait on bellyaching until I'm done with this?"

The Harrier scowled, frowning as he set his narrowed eyes on the old man before flicking them towards the clipped pages. Despite wanting to know what the hell happened, he couldn't help but be curious about what those documents were. ...They had to be documents. It's not like the sadist would be poring over a love letter… so perhaps a report of some kind?

In any case, before he could mull it over further, the man adjusted himself and the pages by rotating his chair away to the bedside table, now limiting the Harrier's previously decent vantage point. He tried not to sulk, but the coziness of the bed somewhat improved his mood.

He let himself relax against it as the sadist continued guarding his pages, quietly trying to think back on what may have happened or why he wasn't in his awful bunk. He felt as if he was weak and tired for no reason, which made it easier to almost melt against the soft mattress yet he didn't feel the need to tug the covers up to warm himself. It wasn't like being in his futon when he lived with that woman… it was a happy marriage between the bad Barracks accommodations and his old bed. He hated to admit it, but this bed felt much better to lay in than any bed he has ever come across… It was like a downy, loving embrace…

"Okay." The Harrier blinked his eyes open and darted them to the sadist. The man had already set aside the clipped documents and was pulling the chair back over to face the Harrier again, his arms resting on his legs as he leaned forward and clasped his large, callused hands together. "Knock yourself out."

Frowning unhappily at that, the Harrier took a moment to collect himself before he felt he was ready to answer. After all, if he didn't proceed carefully, he may very well enter the venture and leave with little of anything of his satisfaction.

The Harrier folded his arms and sighed, "First off… why am I here?"

"Hmph, so you choose now to be less of a shit," groused the sadist with a noisy snort, setting his jaw rigid before he growled, "Here's the deal: You fucked up the Barracks."

"Excuse me?" the Harrier retorted with spite, wrinkling his nose. "What are you talking about, old man?"

"Don't be daft." Sadist Saiyama rose to sit up straighter; his back cracking. "But seeing as you're acting dumb, just know that your taot paper was interacted with by a Yellow Noise Symbol."

"Yellow Noise…" The Harrier grimaced, closing his eyes when his head ached. "They draw in the Red Noise Symbols… don't they?" he asked quietly as he inhaled, hoping to curb the pain through feeding his brain its concurrent dose of oxygen. "The Yellow Noise Symbols?"

In response, the sadist nodded stiffly. "We didn't even know it was possible…" he growled in a near mutter. "But it looks like we were wrong." Inhaling heftily, the sadist soon grunted after a long pause, "The Yellow ones don't appear willy-nilly, only when they're drawn to negativity..."

The Harrier expected himself to have interjected by this point, seeing as he already knew about that fact, or to have been drawn into deep ponder about the subject matter they were on... however, it was taxing for him to focus. So even though he wanted to fill in the blanks himself, his volition was relinquished, leaving him to watch the old man instead.

"Noise don't sense Reapers," continued the sadist undeterred, his gravelly, deep voice turning softer for no apparent reason. "And yet, they were buzzing and tangling together by your damn skull…" The sadist's eyes began to harden. "The Yellow ones don't even need to sense the host creating the emotions, is what we've stumbled upon because of you. They were the ones to draw out those Red ones-"

Suddenly, the sadist's expression pulled tight before he slipped his sausage fingers into his army jacket, chucking items onto the bed moments later. As paper tumbled and fell close by the Harrier's concealed feet, the Harrier blinked in shock at how burnt they were.

As the Harrier's eyes quickly took note of how there were rips down the middle of the square and rectangle sheets, Sadist Saiyama spat coldly, "They were your Noise, and your Noise weren't summoned by you but by those blasted parasites!" His hardened gaze turned to the Harrier as he snarled out from under his breath, "Whatever the fuck is going on with you… I don't know what shit it is. But what I do know is that you attracted Yellow Noise-" His large fists thwacked his legs whilst leaning abruptly forward and roaring out, "- and endangered Reapers!"

The Harrier's wide eyes shifted between the sadist and the singed taot papers, feeling his lower lip quiver as his ears started to ring and faint sounds of buzzes started to overlay his hearing. He shook his head as if that would shoo off the nuisance, biting down on his lip as his gaze rapidly drifted downward. "B-But… why me?" the Harrier asked quietly with incredulousness. "I-I don't understand how-"

"When were you planning on replacing your taot paper?" suddenly asked the sadist in reproach, instantly grabbing the Harrier's weak attention. "Hmm? A Week? A month?" The man leaned forward again and narrowed his eyes to slits. "When you felt like it?"

For whatever reason, the Harrier felt his heart seize in fear at the dangerous look he was receiving. He never had problems before with having to weasel his way out of a tougher adversary's cornering... but right now, he felt nothing but pinned against the air. He was forced to face the man who was interrogating him... like he had no option to run... no option to decline what was...

"...I-I forgot," the Harrier said as his voice became dry all in one moment. "I-I was about to do it… but th-then…" He grimaced again; he didn't want to talk about the reason why he hadn't. If he brought Andy into the conversation, it would incite suspicion or whatever crap his fleeting thoughts couldn't make up their mind about.

As the Harrier noticed the sadist's expression grew less intense, almost as if it softened in the time the old man had started to scrutinize him, the Harrier gasped out in his lightheadedness, "I-I… I-I... I-I d-don't..." His eyes burned, feeling his mouth remain in a choked gape the longer he tried to pull out the information that was needed to sate Sadist Saiyaima. And yet... yet he...

...Wh-What was he doing…? What was he doing before he...

A knock sounded.

All in one instance, it silenced the stifled air and relieved the Harrier of his ability to remain trapped in the sadist's glare.

Within seconds of that occurring, the Harrier felt himself crumple against the pillow and mattress, gasping as he tried to breathe properly while his heart started to slow. For a brief moment, the Harrier could make out how the sadist's expression pulled into a sad one when he gave a long sigh before his eyes tore away... feeling his own closing as dizziness assaulted him and felt ill to his stomach again.

It was almost quiet... it was almost quiet and almost lulled him into a state of comfort... when he heard hobbles and clacks come from the opening and closing door.

The Harrier opened his eyes immediately; the finely-dressed man was striding confidently with his cane to the Harrier's bedside. As soon as the posh bastard came into view at the sadist's flank, stoically regarding the Reaper sharing the same Frozen Age as him, the man's expression failed to change.

"Has he awoken?" crisply asked the Conductor in a distasteful tone, narrowing his gaze as he sniffed aloofly, "Have you gained his testimony, Mr. Saiyama?"

Sadist Saiyama became disgruntled, as if someone flipped a switch on his mood, and twisted his great head to the posh bastard. "I was in the middle of that before you showed up," grumbled the sadist with an eye-roll, shaking his head before he frowned deeply. "But from what I got so far…" His eyes darted in the Harrier's direction. "I don't think the kid's ready yet to be grilled. He just doesn't even know what the heck is going on!"

"He will know soon enough," tersely replied the posh bastard with another sniff. "When he returns to the Barracks and finds there are no lodgings. Not to mention the fact that the Support and Harrier Reapers will not forget who is responsible for that."

The Harrier slowly started to close his eyes as the sensation of being weighed down came to him. As much as he wanted to listen more to the discussion, even though he despised how much the posh bastard was treating the Harrier as if he wasn't there, he knew he could doze off at any moment. A part of him just wanted to stay awake until the two Reapers were gone, but it wouldn't be a thing if he slipped into dreamland first, so he had no choice but to continue concentrating...

"Look, we can't be too hard on the boy because of the side-effects," said the sadist with a huffed sigh.

"I would believe the suggestibility of recovering from the influence of the Yellow strain of Noise will have by now faded, unless the multitude of the strain has now proven to stall the healing process," responded the posh bastard sternly. The Harrier heard the man's cane clack against the ground halfway through a long pause before the Conductor spoke again, "What of his disposition when he first opened his eyes?"

The sadist sighed again, "For a second, I thought Scamp-"

'Scamp…?'

"- was normal, but then when it came to the questions…" Sadist Saiyama closed his eyes. "He was clueless and fumbling his answers."

"Hmm, so it would appear the longitudinal intel we have on hand still holds true. Victims, when in minimal contact, rest easy when freed from the influence. Victims, when in extreme exposure, have more at stake than losing just their Imagination. For the moment, what I would suggest for us to do would be to still gain his testimony as it stands now, and down the line, question him again to see if there are any differences between his answers. We must discern there were no malicious intent to have conceived the event as it had chanced."

"And you did punish those Harrier Reapers who were mentioned to have evacuated last... right?" then asked the sadist as he crossed his arms, tucking his chin into his chest as he gazed down. "They pleaded guilty of abandoning him, you know."

"What I have done to have dealt with them is none of your business," sharply returned the posh bastard. "Whether they were right to leave him to the mercy of the Noise, or lose themselves to the Noise in aiding his escape, is insignificant."

"Hmph. You never leave a comrade when you have the chance to get both of yourselves out of there alive."

A sigh sounded from the posh bastard. "...Must you equate everything to that war?"

"What I'm saying is that you shouldn't…"

The Harrier groaned, giving a muffled protest as something shook him. He kept his eyes clenched tightly shut, groggily trying grabbing onto whatever it was to shove it off his shoulder before letting out a few grumbles.

When it happened again, he lifted his eyelids half-open and muttered under his breath, "Stop it…"

"You've had plenty of shut-eye…" came an unhappy growl. "Get up."

"Mmm…" The Harrier shifted his gaze to where he heard those spoken words. He soon regarded the sadist, who still was seated like he had been earlier. "You're still here?" Perhaps his previous assumption that the sadist liked watching people sleep was a thing?

"I don't have the time in the world to waste my existence watching you slumber," growled the sadist again as he shook his head, curling his lip in annoyance as he snorted, "But seeing as you passed out before Oshiro had the chance to talk to you… we had to postpone that."

"Gee golly, now isn't that dandy?" said the Harrier sardonically with a weak chuckle. "I guess I gave the slip at the right time…"

The sadist sighed at that, "Maybe you're right." The Harrier wearily watched as the old man leaned back into the chair, crossing his arms and having his tattered, khaki sleeves tousle with each other as the shaggy haired man spoke grimly, "On record, you pretty much won't be getting out easy once he does." His head slightly cocked for a brief moment. "So I decided that it might be a safer bet if I woke you before you did that on your own."

"And why would that change anything?" asked the Harrier, sluggishly trying to turn his head to view the man better. "You're hardly the one I want to keep me company."

"Zip it." The sadist's murky-green gaze took on a sharp look, flashing as he growled grumpily, "As long as you answer the questions that you were supposed to have answered then, without you butchering them, or bellyaching, because you'd rather snark your time away until Oshiro returns... " He sighed again, "Then you'll have one less problem to worry about."

Blinking, the Harrier then frowned. "Don't tell me it's about the supposed thing that supposedly happened because of little old me?"

"What did I say...?" growled the sadist threateningly.

All the Harrier did was shrug small. "Why do you care about whether or not you get to talk to me as opposed to him?"

"The last time I left the two of you alone in the same room together," retorted the sadist with a cold bite to his delivery. "I hear about you going ballistic because you have a problem with people cutting you slack."

"That wasn't me being cut slack, it was him violating me with Souls I didn't want!" snapped the Harrier as he tried pulling himself up, only for the sadist to place a hand on the Harrier's chest. "H-Hey-" he protested in frustration as he was pushed down without resistance, grabbing the meaty hand roughly with both of his hands as he growled harshly, "Stop it-"

"Do you seriously think you can sit up right now?" flatly asked the sadist.

As the Harrier's head continued to spin, even when it was situated on the pillow again, the Harrier simply leered at the man.

Sadist Saiyama easily reclaimed his appendage from the Harrier. "Good, why don't we start."

Without hesitation, the old man leaned over to the bedside table. He pushed aside and began precariously lifting certain parts of the previously neat stack of documents, papers and a File to search through sections, ignoring the Harrier for the most part. While on the other hand, the younger Reaper was venomously observing the sadist from his position on the bed, trying to not agitate his lightheadedness or the headache that started to stir as he waited.

When the man finally yanked out a clipped arrangement of pages, he proceeded to leave the calamity of the now disarrayed organization alone. He held the sheets with one hand, patting them with his other idly as he spoke, "We'll start off easy."

"Uh, okay then?" mumbled the Harrier. He didn't know what else to say, as it looked like he really didn't have a choice in this. "Shoot." He frowned as he tried to gesture in the sadist's direction, only to be disappointed when his hand merely rose briefly and promptly fell flat on the bed limply.

While the Harrier's frown deepened in annoyance, Sadist Sayama immediately grunted sympathetically when placing the papers down, "Your motor skills appear to be shit right now."

"Bite me," the Harrier grumbled irksomely then scowled. "Just get on with it."

The older Harrier seemed to sift through the pages- there appeared to be three, thankfully- before squinting down for a while. Then the sadist's head rose, yanking out a small pencil from one of his pockets as he grunted, "On the Days preceding or during the Day of the event, what were you doing?"

"Isn't that a bit of a broad question?" asked the Harrier coolly, earning a sharp look back. "How many are you talking?"

"From what we heard, some Reapers mentioned you were in the Barracks for the majority of the time before the Noise attack," supplied the shaggy haired Reaper with a sigh, shaking his head whilst tapping his pencil against the page. "About four Days... or something like that."

The Harrier was about to speak when he stopped. '...Four Days? What?'

"When were those four Days?" he asked in return while blinking in bewilderment. "I, uh, don't believe it would be helpful for me to explain if I don't even know that..." Dammit… could he be more pathetic right now? Why was he just going along with the-

"Oh, you have a point." The sadist lowered his pencil and his expression screwed up. His thick eyebrows furrowed slightly over his murky eyes in thought for some time before he spoke again, "Right now, it's Day Two for this Week."

"Which Week?" The Harrier scowled. "What Week?" He frowned hard as he grumbled, "Ugh, don't tell me... Is it still April?"

"April?" Sadist Saiyama frowned warily at him. "It's almost June right now."

"I've slept through nearly all of May!?" cried out the Harrier incredulously, widening his eyes in horror. Without a doubt now, he felt even more lightheaded, and maybe even had the general sensation of being dazed, as he gave up on focusing on the old man.

Because of the apparent event of Yellow Noise being a little too lovey-dovey with him, over the fact of they could somehow sense his negative emotions… he lost a whole month of his existence!? The Harrier couldn't accept this… it wasn't possible for him to have slept that long! This had to be a sick joke- it had to be a sick joke… it couldn't be true!

"N-Nice try," he mumbled, with his voice having less of the amusement he wanted and more of the unwelcome uneasiness coming out. However, he wasn't bothered by that currently; he had to concentrate on defusing the situation before the sadist had his chance to laugh at how gullible the Harrier was. So he attempted a smile, only pulling his lips up slightly as he tried harder to chuckle at this lame excuse in the face, to destroy it right here and right now, "I'm not going to buy that loaded farce even if you paid me, old man…"

"What are you going on about, boy?" growled the sadist irritably as he was cut off from his writing. He slammed the pages and pencil down on his lap, with more force than he should have, then spat, "You should be the one to fact-check yourself!" He lashed a hand around in the air with frustration. "It's nearly June, you haven't slept for over a month, so tell me what makes you think we're still in April!?"

"And th-that's where I'm going to stop you, buster. If this hasn't convinced you, then perhaps you'll realize how senile you are over how you can't do your basic math right," intoned the Harrier as he tried to make his voice firmer, more confident and resolute. He nodded mentally to himself as he all but narrowed his eyes to slits, turning his head in the opposite direction of the sadist. "It's simple: How many Days have I been in this room...?" he asked, trying to go to his unfavourite route of sounding sickly sweet to prove his point. If he made it sound like the sadist needed someone to dumb it down for him, he was all for it to ensure it would happen. "Come on… work with me here..."

For a while, the sadist was quiet, so maybe he was deliberating his options... that is, if the Harrier was certain the man could do that. He likely was trying to make his brain work to accept and have the Harrier's logic be successfully delivered to him... which shouldn't be a problem if-

A chill jutted from his spine suddenly.

His eyes widened.

Sluggishly turning his head back, his body jolted violently as it was stopped by the large hand that just closed over his mouth.

"Mruff uffuu-" he shouted against the hand as the sadist flatly gazed at him, trying to wiggle away from the man. However, that would have worked... if the old man hadn't laid his other hand down against the Harrier's chest. It merely gave him the feeling of being pinned down like a pesky insect, as his limbs hardly moved to aid him with how his hands weakly flapped and his legs twitched seldomly…

Was that what the sadist was talking about earlier!? That the Harrier was reduced to overall weakness in his body- and was practically vulnerable for anyone to Erase if they wanted to with a mere flick to his forehead!?

"Lefp grrw-" he tried again and attempted to move his head, but to his dismay, it hardly shifted on the pillow. With the sadist holding him down and muffling him, it was like he was reclining on a spiderweb than a comforting surface! The very idea made him feel faint immediately, as well as revolted while he screamed out as loudly as he could, "Stufoph feftt!"

"I'll make it simple for you now..." growled the sadist almost in a mockery of the Harrier's previous voice. It caused the Harrier to stiffen, widening his eyes a fraction more when the sadist thrust his head close to the Reaper, baring his yellowed, half-rotten teeth as his decay-perfumed was nothing but nauseating.

Sadist Saiyama cocked his head whilst smiling. "If you keep trying to do your tomfoolery with me… I'm going to have to keep my hand over your mouth until Oshiro arrives."

The Harrier flinched, only to regret it when it brought him pain from being restrained like this. It was just like the Harrier to think he could trust the words of the lowly, slimy old man! Sadist Saiyama was just like the rest of them- telling him one thing when the sadist was waiting for the perfect moment to stab the Harrier in the back, in the moment that things started to feel remotely like...

There was smoke wisping past the head of the sadist.

The Harrier felt himself seize, expelling any breath he had in his lungs immediately. "Fyr-" he tried gasping to the sadist fearfully, who must have found sick humour in this because the man still held the Harrier down. He didn't even take a single glance towards the hazard behind him. "Fryr- fyr- fryerr- fryr- fyr- fyr- fryr- fryr- FRYR-"

Too much smoke- he was going to- he was going to- he was going to-

He couldn't breathe already! He was going to die!

The sadist lit the room on fire like it had- The car had this room inside it! They were in a room inside the hood of that fucking Cherry-

He didn't want to die- Not now- not right now- not right now when he fucking-

Suddenly, his head was turned without warning, dizzily making out how there was a face nearby that went from blurry in the smoky haze to clear. The Harrier's eyes flashed in recognition, yet he tried to wiggle his way out of the old man's unyielding hold again. He knew the faster he could get out of the hold the faster he could escape the room and, by extension, quickly try to free himself from-

"Look at me," growled the sadist gravelly. That voice shook the young man, making him feel spooked to hear the man was still able to speak after all this-

The Harrier watched as the sadist's expression grew taut, somehow having an unsettling calm on it as he growled out again, "You can breathe…"

Why was the old man telling him that!? He could only inhale the torturous, toxic fumes of the exhaust, feeling himself go faint from how disgusting it tasted in his mouth!

"You can breathe…" repeated the sadist in the same equal, measured tone. His eyes remained fixed on the Harrier as he inhaled, soon breathing out again, "You can breathe…"

He couldn't…

"You can breathe…"

He couldn't…

"Breathe…"

He wanted to… he so, so much wanted to… yet he felt like he could throw up at any moment.

His vision grew foggy… It was so hard to see… snapping...

...Snapping?

Blinking, he could have sworn he heard the sound of snapping! Where was it coming from!? His eyes darted around; what could be making that crisp sound when nothing in that damn Cherry-

Fingers floated in the side of his vision.

He quickly flickered his gaze towards them before another snap came, making him register the sound was on the other side as his eyes shifted to see that was, in fact, to be true. Suddenly, the snaps were above him, and sure enough, so were the sausage fingers making them. Almost thoughtlessly he kept following after the sounds, finding it oddly amusing and satisfying to hear that sound to locate what was making them… Although his logic couldn't nail down why he was letting himself play this childishly delightful game, it took a bit to realize the smoke was now gone.

"Breathe."

He did; smiling when his head became less fuzzy.

"Good job." The Harrier's heart swelled at that. "Okay, what can you hear?"

Huh? The Harrier furrowed his eyebrows at that because it was quiet. He immediately strained his ears, worried he missed whatever it was before fingers snapped in between his eyes. "Snapping!" he gasped out, suddenly aware of how happy his voice came out to his bemusement. Before he had time to think on it, the fingers snapped again and he cried out desperately, "More snapping!"

"Uh-huh," grumbled a voice; the Harrier practically heard the nod. He tried to puff out his chest proudly. "Good job."

A hand rested on the top of his head, and the Harrier waited for it to rub or pat his head when- to his disbelief- it simply stayed still. Frowning, he wondered what was wrong as his eyes jumped back to his fath-

Flinching violently, the Harrier straightaway glowered darkly at the sadist. "What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" he coldly snarled.

The old man's face partly grimaced before it disappeared into a calm demeanour. "Were you expecting me to do something?"

"I asked you a question!" spat the Harrier harshly, narrowing his eyes to slits as he growled, "You did something to me-"

The large hand trailed down to his forehead. "You feel tired?"

"No-" The Harrier gritted his teeth before he spat again, "Save for the exhaustion I feel all the time, I guess, but-"

"You feel tired then," grunted the sadist. The Harrier didn't know why, but as soon as those words came out, he did feel his body go slack... He blinked lazily in disbelief as his head slumped against the pillow. "Do you know why?"

"No…" he breathed out softly. He gritted his teeth more as he spoke shakily, "Wh-What are you-"

"You said you felt exhausted, even though you slept mostly for four Days before the Noise attack happened," retorted the sadist with a snort. He shook his head a few times before adding brusquely, "Comfy?"

The Harrier couldn't help but smile small. "Y-Yeah…"

"How comfy?"

"I like this bed," he chirped as he rubbed his head against the pillow briefly. When he squashed his head against it, trying to nestle into the softness, he sighed contentedly, "Ah… it's so nice, and soft, and-"

"What about your bed?"

The Harrier frowned in confusion. "From home?"

"Barracks."

"Oh, you already know how I feel about them," the Harrier snippily and smugly returned. He promptly twisted his body the other way to shove his face against the nice pillow to cement that point. "Do I need to remind you?"

For some reason, the sadist gave a smile. "Do you enjoy sleeping?"

The Harrier frowned into the pillow. "Enjoy sleeping?"

As soon as he rolled to be his back again and turned his head to regard the man bemusedly, the hand from before rested on it again, but moreso on his left side. "Do you like sleeping?" asked the sadist as his gaze remained on the younger Reaper.

"Uh…" The Harrier tried raising his head, but the sadist wouldn't move his hand, so... he kind of had his head stuck on the pillow. "I-I… don't- I-I want to- Yes- No- D-Dreams are nightmares- N-No Number Fours- Number Threes-" His head hurt after he blurted that out. He grimaced; the surface below started to feel too soft and it became uncomfortable for some reason. "I-I don't…"

"Look at me." The Harrier did that after the hand lifted. He noticed the sadist was watching him calmly while nodding. "Good job. Do you not sleep because of the nightmares?"

"Bothers me…" the Harrier mumbled without thinking about it. Grimacing, he made note that his jaw kept moving. "T-Too... dark…"

"Why too dark?" rumbled the sadist. "Close your eyes."

"...Because it's too dark," said the Harrier quickly as he lowered his eyelids, soon staring out at the gloom he made. With a sigh, he spoke again but slower, "I can't see if it's too dark."

"Is it too dark now?"

He shook his head once. "N-No."

"Why?"

"Because my eyes are closed…" He grimaced halfway through his answer.

"Open them." When the Harrier blinked to see the sadist again, the man's gaze was thoughtful as he frowned. "Good job. If the lights are off, is it too dark?"

"T-Too dark… can't see," breathed the Harrier nervously as he felt himself shudder. He suddenly widened his eyes, trying to grab the sadist's nearby tattered sleeve as he gasped out, "D-Don't-"

"I won't, don't worry," murmured the old man. The Harrier felt his body relax, his arm falling next to him limply as he resettled himself in the bed. "Breathe." The Harrier inhaled, not certain when he had stopped as the sadist merely half-closed his eyes. "Good job. Why didn't you replace your taot papers?"

"I-I meant to." The Harrier lowered his head and frowned, keeping his eyes on the white sheets as he tried to suck in a breath to think clearer. For some reason, he became aware of the fact he was hardly thinking about his surroundings as much as he usually did, now that he thought about it. But right now, the question took more precedence in his mind. Anything the sadist had said for the last few minutes seemed to have the same effect on him, which he found to be odd… Except, that wasn't important because he had to answer this question!

"They got soaked," he explained hastily, widening his eyes as he tried to recall what happened. "Warmed them up… but noticed a tear in one. A-Andy…" He gulped and tried to shake his head, only for a twinge to pass through it before he gasped out, "I-I was supposed to… but felt tired, so I went back to the Barracks to rest."

"To nap?" intoned the sadist curiously.

"R-Rest," said the Harrier as firmly as he could. He pursed his lips, furrowing his eyebrows as he went on, "I thought I'd rest a bit before going to an Officer, but…"

"You fell asleep?"

The Harrier scowled in annoyance. "Are you going to let me speak?" When the sadist sighed at that, the Harrier scoffed before narrowing his eyes. He shifted through his thoughts, trying to remember the exact details that, for whatever reason, didn't come to him as easily as they should have. Frowning, he remained silent, not wanting to blurt anything out he may regret later without thinking about it first, before he all but ended up with dead-ends.

"I-I…" His heart tightened at how many blanks he was getting, leaving him to wonder if something drilled holes into his brain to have drained out the memories for him. He knew he should know this, so it made him hate himself more that he was shoving out aimless answers in the meantime before he ultimately breathed out bemusedly, "I-I don't know… I stayed in bed? Maybe? Perhaps?"

"You never left the Barracks…" grumbled the sadist quietly in an odd tone, making the Harrier raise his eyebrows at the man. He warily regarded how the man was still calm, even when the Harrier knew the man should be growling and snarling, making the Harrier's Day a bad one...

What was going on here?

The larger man lowered his chin when he mused gravelly, "You stayed in bed, not moving an inch from what Reapers said… for about four Days. And on the fourth Day since you stayed in bed, Day Six, Noise were summoned by a Yellow Noise… and not by you."

The Harrier grimaced. "...Did they?" He faintly felt as if that sounded familiar... Did he... didn't the sadist tell him about this already?

"Unless I'm wrong to think you're not dumb enough to cause a stunt like that," growled the sadist with a shrug, earning a sour look from the Harrier, who simply lowered his head onto the pillow in a cautious manner. "So basically, you endangered Reapers accidentally because you chose not to replace your taot paper and somehow got a flock of Yellow Noise to come to you." He narrowed his eyes to slits. "Do you know why Yellow Noise don't get attracted to Reapers…? Or so we thought?"

"Well, if we're going to act like-" The sadist moved his hand towards the Harrier, who jolted in response. Scowling, the Harrier tsked at the sadist then grumbled icily, "...Put that away." When the sadist withdrew his hand, the Harrier rolled his head to irritably look up at the ceiling. "For your information, I recall you already told me about Yellow Noise Symbols. So why don't we just bite the bullet, and get on with our lives?"

As the Harrier tried to focus on the dust particles, that fluttered around them in graceful swirls, the sadist inhaled before he growled, "Look at me." The Harrier didn't want to, but he already felt his eyes and head start to turn. His thoughts were fading- to his fleeting distress- before he was curiously watching the man. "Good job."

Despite the satisfaction he found from hearing that again, the Harrier narrowed his eyes as he hissed, "Why do you keep telling me that!?"

"Depends on your answer to the next question," grumpily returned the sadist, soon sighing with a huff, "Have you felt different than you normally have lately?"

"Define 'normal'," retorted the Harrier as he snorted, turning his head away as he growled, "All know is that your little interview has been-"

"Why are you making this more complicated than it needs to be!?" Sadist Saiyama groaned in the middle of the Harrier's speech before he growled in annoyance, "For crying sour milk- stop focusing on everything else and just tell me why you wanted to stay in bed for four Days already!"

As the Harrier's response dwindled on his tongue as wordless air when he heard the sadist's interruption, his fast preparations for lodging a complaint for that died as well when his mind slowly drifted from those thoughts. The way the sadist's expression blanched in the corner of his gaze became unimportant to him as the surroundings fell away; nothing was more important than focusing on what really mattered...

The response. Arguing with Andy. Running off to calm down in the Barracks. How he had to-

His chin was grasped onto and his head was twisted towards the sadist, who was staring at the Harrier with urgency as he kept making the motion of snapping his fingers in various places in front of the Harrier's face. No matter how much the sadist's lips moved, they created no sound, just as his fingers didn't. He kept the Harrier's chin in his left hand as he appeared to be getting more upset as the seconds passed by. Oh that's right... he had to tell the sadist what he needed to know.

The Harrier tried to move his mouth, but the sadist's hand was in the way so he raised his arm, only to struggle to lift it when he realized his arm wasn't there. Where were his arms? He knew he was lifting something but he didn't know where it was, which was going to make it impossible to get the sadist's hand off of his jaw so he could tell him-

He suddenly saw the sadist's boots, but the hold on him was gone so he shouted out, "I don't deserve to be here!" He could have sworn he was shaking, but at the same time he felt it wasn't possible because his body was missing, then he was aware of how his disembodied voice sobbed out, "What am I supposed to be doing with myself if I can't help them!? You all think I'm a fool for wanting to help Shibuya!"

Above him, the sadist said nothing about whether or not that was a good enough answer, so the Harrier spitted in response. 'Okay then, you asked for it!'

"Want me to explain more? Fine- I will!" he sneered bitterly before he cried out in frustration, "Because from time and time again, I have! And yet no one cares! Not even for what I tried to do because no one wants to do the right thing but me- and Andy- and those who agreed with us! But how are we supposed to do anything if it's frowned upon by the one who matters the most in this!?" He screwed his eyes shut, in a sense, as he wailed, "I'm nothing! Nothing! No matter what I do I'm the scum of the Underground! Don't tell me to calm down when my existence is fucking shit! I'm nothing- and I'm nothing without what I do, yet I have to stop because what am I supposed to do if what I'm doing isn't accepted by Him!? So what am I still doing here when I'm an asshole who everyone wants to fade away because I smear the 'good name of Reapers' and am a disgrace to all those who came to the Underground before me-"

The sadist's boots started to float away, causing him to panic as he tried moving his voice towards it only to loudly shriek, "Where are you going- I wasn't finished telling you yet!?" Even at that, the boots morphed into the whole sadist the further the man got away, so the voice had to chase after the male only to find he was stuck in place in the void he was in. "No, come back!" the voice wailed out in misery before sobbing raggedly. "Come back- come back- come back-"

When any sign of the sadist was gone, the voice found itself continuing to simply sob that the man left without hearing the rest. "D-Don't leave me..."

Opening his eyes, the Harrier left them half-open and frowned as he pushed himself up. He didn't know why, but his head was achy for some reason...

Idly placing a hand on his hood and keeping it from sliding off of his head, he couldn't help but scowl at the posh bastard, who replaced Sadist Saiyama this time. In fact, with a few scans of the room, the sadist was nowhere to be found...

Oh good; the Harrier couldn't help but mentally sigh in relief. If he had woken up to another session with the sadist, he wasn't sure how he'd bear through the next painful conversation.

"I don't know if I should be glad to see the likes of you," muttered the Harrier with a huff, narrowing his eyes to slits as he shrugged slightly. "Not that it has ever happened, I suppose." In response, the posh bastard's stoic expression bore holes into him as the Harrier sighed, "But here I thought it would be Sadist Saiyama again. So I guess he must have slunk off after…"

Inhaling, the posh bastard soon spoke sternly, "You appear to be much better off since the last I saw of you." The Harrier grew rigid, warily watching the pale-suited man straighten his posture before his midnight-blue eyes hardened. "Mr. Saiyama had only so much to report, but I believe enough is enough. I will be in charge of inquiries regarding your current circumstances from now on."

"What's that supposed to mean?" tartly asked the Harrier as he curiously tilted his head.

The fawn-coloured haired man cleared his throat before replying coolly, "Mr. Saiyama had no clearance to speak with you, so long as you were still under the effects of the Yellow strain of Noise."

Bristling, the Harrier's hackles rose sharply and he spat irritably, "What effects?"

For a while, the posh bastard's gaze remained on the Harrier before it drew away, silent as he went to pull over a folder and carded through the contents. His dipped head soon rose again yet his eyes were settled on the clipped pages he withdrew, frowning as he finally explained, "The strain of Noise that feeds off of negativity and kills Imagination, once eradicated, leave an Imprint on the host. Even before their influence has been severed, these Noise have the ability to plant suggestions and ideas into the minds they have worked to turn pliable, once enough has been taken by them."

The posh bastard's gaze narrowed. "Never have we seen such a case where they had suckled on negativity and not imparted damage to the host themselves, which has happened to you." His chin tipped up as he sighed, "I daresay it would be a breakthrough, had it not given us grief in terminating them… And we now have to spend the next while resetting the wards in the River."

"Get to the point." The Harrier crossed his arms. "My brain has been numbed down enough from having the same knowledge rehashed, so if there's anything new you can share..." His eyes closed. "I would appreciate hearing it."

The posh bastard's gaze flashed with annoyance. "While we have come to an agreement you had not enacted a mutiny in the form of Noise, they had appeared to be drawn to your negativity. And because you left your negativity to nurture… it has left many Support and Harrier Reapers of your gender without a bed." The Harrier opened his eyes and frowned quietly when he heard that, blinking when the posh bastard took on a guarded look. "While we may pardon you in that you were not of sound mind at that very instance, the Reapers I mentioned will not be as forgiving."

"So you're basically saying people still hate me?" Smacking his lips, the Harrier rolled his eyes before huffing, "Man, that's a big shocker."

"For the most part, we have given you this room for your accommodations to heal from the event." The posh bastard closed his eyes, shaking his head. "That is, unless you have a more appropriate place to be until we have successfully reinforced the Barracks from future intrusions."

"Is this the real reason why you're here?" asked the Harrier in contempt, groaning before he sighed, "Because, believe me, the last thing you would want to talk about with me is where I would set up camp for the night after your generosity has worn off."

The man's lips pursed, soon narrowing his eyes as he placed the papers back in and started to set aside the folder on the bedside table. From the neatly stacked pile, that must have been organized since the Harrier was knocked out, the posh bastard drew out clipped pages. As he began flipping through the contents, the Harrier noticed the pages would flop over the top… Huh, he could have sworn-

"While it may be improper to, 'cut to the chase'," began the posh bastard in a distinctly sharp, biting delivery. This caused the Harrier to raise an eyebrow, as he found it was strange to hear that type of tone being used by the otherwise fauxly polite man... He dismissed his observation briefly when the posh bastard cleared his throat, watching as the man soon smiled in an unassuming matter... However, the Harrier could pick out how cold it actually was, which only drew back his earlier suspicions on the matter of how the man wasn't acting as he usually did.

...Yeah, the posh bastard definitely wasn't acting like himself.

Upon having that thought, the Harrier felt his body tense as the man murmured shallowly, "I simply cannot help but wonder… how you have done it." The same smile remained... and that probably wasn't a good thing. The Harrier could come up with thousands of reasons why the posh bastard may be acting weird like this, had the Harrier not realized the posh bastard was intentionally trying to meet the Harrier's gaze.

'Why does he want to see my reaction?' the Harrier thought warily, lowering his arms. He gripped the soft blanket tightly and frowned deeply. 'But what does he mean by-'

"During the previous Week," crisply said the posh bastard as he raised his chin, grimly pursing his lips when he breathed out icily, "The numbers of deaths in the Realground is paramount to the total mortality you had a hand in doing on a Weekly basis, if you must know."

"Oh, so there's been a trigger happy lunatic on the loose?" The Harrier tilted his head in curiosity, yet the bewilderment he actually felt inside had his body on edge. Just the thought of a killer going ballistic like this made a part of the Harrier itch to pull himself over to the Realground and put an end to the guy… But the bitter reminder that it wasn't going to make a difference, and how the Composer wouldn't favour it, made him immediately dispose of the idea.

"That's a shame…" he crestfallenly added as he frowned. "Looks like the Player count will be large this Week then."

For some reason, the posh bastard didn't seem pleased by that. Well, no one would be pleased to know a killer was making it easier for Reapers to get their meals, but shouldn't the posh bastard look less… how should he put it… choleric? The man virtually appeared stiff and lacked the usual ease in his voice when he barked out, "Explain yourself!"

Straightaway, the Harrier's frown became nonplussed. "Wait, what- Explain what?"

"Do not act witless," the posh bastard growled, clenching his hands on his lap as he openly glared at the Harrier. "A total of seventy people died in Shibuya last Week. Notwithstanding the total number, of those seventy people…" The posh bastard stole a quick look at the page he had been looking at before glaring daggers at the Harrier again. "Fifty-three of which were not of natural causes- forty-nine of which were not reportedly caused by anyone from the Realground!"

As the Harrier leaned backwards, remaining aware of how he should keep himself from going farther as to not fall off the bed, he kept his wide eyes on the Conductor as the man yelled out, "Of all the limits you have pushed in my regard, this will be the last that you will pillory me!"

"Wait a minute-" the Harrier started in annoyance, scowling quickly as he retorted, "Are you seriously accusing me of being involved with those deaths!?"

"To be frank, did you really think you could slip under my nose with such an outrageous amount of murders?" barked the Conductor in humourless laughter, his shoulders rigid as his dark gaze blazed with fury. "Do not give yourself credit in creating a story for yourself to hide under… A Harrier Reaper, who never cooperates with authority anymore, last Week spending the majority of it lying in his bed in the Barracks, when we have evidence that you avoid it at every possible waking moment, has not gone out to kill Realground denizens when he has been doing such a deed for Weeks because of his ill perception that he is killing for justice…!?"

His gaze hardened and his lips pursed. "Do you honestly believe me to be a fool to not see what you are doing? You are staging yourself to be innocent to sneak away to kill Realground denizens when no Reaper is around, and have been returning to the Barracks to keep your alibi alive."

"I have not left the Shibuya River…" The Harrier shook his head slowly, all the while glaring back at the man, gritting his teeth as he grounded out, "I swear… trust me…"

"Why should I when the evidence returns to you?" asked the Conductor sternly, frowning deeply as he closed his eyes. "It has always returned to you."

"Whoever lied to you... oh man, they certainly have a damn sense of humour," bitterly said the Harrier with a smile, clenching his hands to fists as he leered coldly. "Eyewitnesses said I was in the Barracks since Day Two of last Week… and I'm not going to milk the idea because it actually is true."

That seemed to catch the posh bastard off-guard, yet the Harrier didn't care. Just hearing about how this man thought the Harrier was the one killing people made the Harrier livid, but he tried to ground himself as to not lose control of his actions like he had previously. He lowered his head, laughing dryly, "Of course, of course… You may think it's linked to me because that is all but the norm…" His gaze sharpened. "But what if I tell you you're the one slandering me without fact-checking."

"...You mean to tell me that you are not responsible for the deaths?" asked the posh bastard reluctantly; how cute. How cute it was to see that of all the man's hoity-toity assness and arrogance… he wasn't bright enough to back his useless claims up effectively… It made the Harrier sick- disgusted, that the posh bastard would jump the gun like this. Although, he couldn't blame the man for assuming… yet he couldn't really let himself forgive the posh bastard's current actions, seeing that this loaded shit was contrary to the truth.

Rearing his head, the Harrier pointed at the man. "Glad we're on the same page now." He set his jaw rigid as he scoffed, "But your assumption that I killed people has not made this Harrier a happy, happy Reaper, you see…"

The posh bastard merely gazed back down at the pages, appearing lost as he silently carded through the sheets again. However, the Harrier couldn't stand another second looking at this sorry excuse for a person.

Shoving the blankets off of himself, the Harrier was glad his hands weren't as weak as they had been when he had last awoken and pulled his legs over to the edge of the bed- opposite to the one with the posh bastard- with ease. As he carefully lowered one foot down before the other, using the bed as support in case the lack of activity his limbs had would send him reeling to the ground, he expelled a sigh of relief when he hardly swayed and didn't feel his knees buckle from under himself.

As soon as the Harrier let go of the bed, pivoting to send a scowl to the Conductor, the posh bastard already was giving him a suspicious look. "Where do you believe you are going?" asked the man tersely.

"I'll thank you for the bed, at least," scoffed the Harrier coldly, lifting his chin as he crossed his arms. "But the wrongful accusation…?" He smacked his lips, pursing and pinching them as he huffed, "That, posh bastard, has given me enough to believe the welcome wagon has abandoned the horizon."

"So you will be departing…" noted the posh bastard coolly, yet the Harrier pretended the man didn't have a hint of regret in his voice.

"Why aren't you happy about the arrangement?" asked the Harrier shallowly with a frown. "I certainly am not, but what's to say that you shouldn't be when you'll finally be rid of me?"

"The Barracks are not suitable until the wards have been properly established," merely returned the posh bastard with a sniff. "As I was mentioning earlier, the Support and Harrier Reapers will need to settle themselves until-"

"After all the bullshit I've had this month…" The Harrier narrowed his eyes to slits. "Forget it."

"I beg your pardon." As the posh bastard straightened himself, sitting up tall with a dubious raise of his eyebrow, he clasped his hands together on the papers in his lap as he breathed, "But what do you mean by that?"

Frowning bitterly at the man, the Harrier shook his head. "I'm leaving."

"Yes, I can tell," said the posh bastard with a curt nod.

"Ah-buh-buh-buh-" The Harrier raised a finger in the air, frowning hard as he waved it at the man while he growled, "I wasn't finished." When the posh bastard's expression oozed how displeased he was with the Harrier from the rightful disrespect, the young Reaper sucked in a steadying breath of oxygen before he huffed, "I'm leaving…" He gritted his teeth. "But I'm not coming back."

When the Harrier watched the posh bastard reach for his cane by the table after placing the clipped pages down, rising to his feet carefully when he had it, the man's midnight-blue eyes were darkened. "What do you mean to say?"

The Harrier simply sighed out, "Do I really need to spell it out for you?" He threw his left arm towards the door behind the Conductor while his right hand was slapped to his chest, shifting his feet as he growled, "I'm not going to put up with any more of the bullshit you've given me. When I first arrived here on this Plane, became a Reaper… I thought I could rough it here no problemo. You know?" He lowered his arms, steeling his gaze as he bitterly spat, "But when you started to constantly be on my ass about every, single, fucking thing, that I can't help but do because it's how I am now… this place, that I thought could become a home for me, became the last place I wanted to stand in.

"I doubt you know what happened to me before I became a Reaper, or why you keep thinking I'm going places I shouldn't be," he continued icily, shaking his head as he gritted his teeth. "But out here-" He opened his arms up, trying to lock onto the man's midnight blue with his own gaze. "- in the River-" He dropped his arms. "I loathe to breathe the same air you do," he hissed, narrowing his eyes as they hardened. "I loathe being somewhere where I know I'm not safe from anyone who regularly picks a bone with me...

"Being treated like I'm nothing- being treated like I'm an embarrassment!?" He clenched his eyes closed. "If it was your plan to chip away at who I am, what I could be, to nothing…" His lips pursed as he quietly breathed, "Your wish has been granted."

"And what has that to do with where you will be lodging?" asked the posh bastard with a disdainful sniff. "I have given you plenty of opportunities to show you can be an invaluable aspect to the Underground, yet you spit at the hands that only offer to help you…"

"For your concern," the Harrier retorted rudely, shaking his head. "Why should you care about me?" He swayed his hands in front of his chest to gesture towards himself. "There's nothing for me here-" He whisked his palms up. "Nothing for me out there-" He lowered his head and his arms sadly. "What use is there for me to be anywhere...?"

The posh bastard's expression altered to be almost pensive. "You do have a place among Reapers… as long as you are the Reaper you are supposed to be."

Feeling heat behind his eyes, the Harrier gritted his teeth. "Don't lie to me..." He tried to resist the urge to let his tears leak out, yet the sides of his eyes started to feel wet. "If you actually cared about your Reapers, you wouldn't stoop to making their lives miserable."

For a while, it was silent… then the Conductor broke it with a long sigh, "You may have forgotten... " The man's gaze became hardened. "You were sensible once."

"...I still am." The Harrier clenched his hands.

"You may have fared better if you went back to the Realground, when you were granted that honour," coolly said the Conductor with a purse of his lips, closing his eyes as he went on, "But, even here, when you started to blossom after your training… you had a chance to grow further."

The Harrier scoffed at that. He turned his head away, frowning angrily as he growled, "You sure have a way with words in making someone feel better."

"And you still have that chance, if you can comprehend what you had chosen to do from that Day onwards is wrong, and move on instead of treading backwards," added the posh bastard stiffly, and the Harrier huffed at how that man had the audacity to still ignore him. The posh bastard then placed his other hand on his cane as he dipped his head. "I can be a merciful man… if you give me time to prove that to you."

"Why prove anything when you don't want to prove anything to me but to show how much you can torment me?" retorted the Harrier crossly as he raised his head, steeling his gaze as he let out a growl, "It's not about proving anything to me, anyway. I'm just fed up with you, all of you, and I don't want to be near you…" He tightened his hands, feeling them protest in pain as he went on severely, "You're just as blind as the Realground for seeing the Underground! I'm not here to serve you, I'm here for me- and only me-"

His hackles rose as he snarled out, "It's my existence- got it!?"

He stomped down hard and harshly breathed as he glared at the posh bastard, who stoically watched him, and rawfully grounded out, "As long as I still waste your space and resources… I'm not going to let you dictate how I act or how I run myself into the ground!" He frowned deeply, shaking his head as he growled, "I didn't kill those Realground citizens as much as you want me to confess that I did, so don't think I'm the only one needing to set their priorities straight!"

The Harrier thumped his chest and left his hand there; his gaze sharpened. "So as long as you do what you do, I'll do what I'll do- And if through sheer luck we may be able to miss, and never catch another glimpse of each other ever again... then so be it. It's none of your business what I do as long as it doesn't impact the Game…" He narrowed his shadowed eyes. "So, in case you were wondering, I plan on being the asshole that I am, while I ride my Points to wherever the fuck I'll land myself in. Be it a hole, be it a dumpster..."

His lips pursed. "Be it Erasure."

With that, the Harrier strode past the foot of his bed and the other man, scooping up his knapsack by the strap nearby the door and stormed out.

In the streets, the Harrier didn't stop walking, keeping to the same angry stomps as he grew farther and farther away from the Shibuya River. He didn't bother to reequip his Pins that he found clipped to the top of his ochre knapsack; he didn't want to stall himself from getting enough distance in to clear his mind after speaking with that bastard.

And yet, of all the places he stopped for a breather, it was Hachiko's statue. ...Maybe he underestimated his body's abilities after lying in a bed for so long.

Sighing, the Harrier spun around and lowered himself to the ground to sit beside the dog statue, staring forward absently like it was doing. He put his elbows on his legs and his hands on his cheeks, mulling over the fact this wasn't how he pictured leaving the Shibuya River would be like. But it would appear as though this was his existence, he reminded himself, as shitty as it has always been. If he could find solace with Hachiko here, perhaps his mind was still in working order, after all.

'Man… it must be nice for you,' he thought dolefully, slightly shifting his gaze to check on the dog sitting on the raised slab as he frowned. 'Knowing you had a place to be every Day… knowing you had a duty to uphold…' He smiled bitterly. 'Now that begs the question of what I should be doing.'

Closing his eyes, he simply tried to allow himself to calm down. In the distance, he knew Reapers were already doing their thing with the Players… yet the urge to join in for the kerfuffle was now good as dead. If he couldn't kill and Erase wrongdoers… and he hated Erasing Players who were innocent… what kind of Reaper was he? The whole spiel behind Reapers, from his understanding, was that Reapers Erases Players, and Reapers Processes the Dead into Players… There was nothing more, nothing less…

Well, to be frank, the thing that made Harrier Reapers tick was the whole idea of being constantly on the hunt for their meals. Support Reapers served to impede Players' progress through Wall Objectives and Erase Players if an unPacted Player's timer bled to zero. Officer Reapers… well, to him, may as well be over-glorified members of the Underground who were a part of the Conductor's court. Yeah, that works. Officer status was status and only status… They probably were sipping away at their rice wine right now- as he was thinking- and laughing as the Conductor joined them for a spell of story swaps over how much of a fool the Harrier was...

Scrunching up his nose at that, the Harrier opened his eyes and boredly took to watching the shaded, translucent figures of Realground citizens. Just glancing around him made his heart ache from how mindlessly happy there were, unaware of how they may be taking their lives for granted… He shooed off Thought Fragments that tried to invade his personal space, not wanting to hear about what shoes Raika bought or how Yokitsuru landed the date he was nervous about. It left him in a somewhat sour, somewhat dreary mood as he quietly schooled his expression while he continued his Realground-watching.

It took all of his willpower to not cringe when primary school kids stepped through him to ogle at Hachiko, hating the fuzzy vibrating sensation that caused a shiver to go up his spine. He sighed, trying to shrug off the annoyance it brought him as he rested harder on his palms; the pressure on his legs became a noticeable ache. 'What's wrong with these people…? How can they be so carefree when they're forgetting about the responsibilities they have?'

Looking to Hachiko again, he blinked at the frozen dog. 'Don't you get annoyed when kids try to climb on you when they shouldn't be?'

Hachiko merely kept staring forward like the good sentry he was.

The Harrier smiled back. 'Well, you're just a dog, I guess.' Turning his head forward again, his expression became neutral. 'You won't get bogged down like the good trooper you are.' He smiled again. 'Yes you are.'

When he became aware of how tired his back was starting to become, he unslung his knapsack and twisted it around to lay it in his lap. As his Pins glinted in the gentle morning light, he fondly smiled and admired each of them as he began taking them off and pinning them to his grey undershirt.

First, good old Cripplecheck. He double-checked with a mere twitch to see the hidden metallic glint gloss over before placing it on.

Second, Virtuoso; a blue-grey Pin with a music note in the middle, surrounded by a greyish aura darkening and fading to dark blue-grey.

Third, Alla Breve; a dark blue-grey Pin with various lighter blue-grey versions of ledger lines with five transient black-to-white notes going up the bars.

Fourth, Shinin' Spotlight; a mauve Pin with five variously lighter purple streams of light coming from a blue-grey eye- with white uneven dots- almost in the dead centre of the Pin.

Fifth, Shadow's Play; the dark grey pin with a black shadow having one ebony eye and another off-centre, dark grey one overlapping it with its own eye, sharing one lopsided smile that stretched between the two of them. He couldn't help but try to imitate it, chuckling in amusement before putting Shadow's Play on. He just couldn't understand why Andy found this Pin to be so creepy...

And, finally, Ignis Swarm; a black Pin mottled over with variously sized speckles and blobs, that were the colours of Autumn leaves, to form a gorgeous collage.

When he released the collar of his hood, he closed his eyes as he felt the thrum of energy from his Pins return to him. Buzzing to the beat of his heart… soothing him as he felt relief that he had them back on again. Being one of the very few Players who happened to find that he had received six beautiful Pins... made him feel almost as if he was special. Not the 'I'm better than you' special, moreso that he had gotten a lucky cut from cloth that proved to be very useful…

Although, now that he thought about it… he's hardly had to use them nowadays.

It brought a frown to his face as he tried pondering about when the last time was that he fought with his trusty Pins, finding that he couldn't put a name to a recent time he had to pull out these big guns and lay down his enemies to rest. He drew up a hand and held his chin, knitting his eyebrows as he sadly mused that he couldn't just let himself get rusty. Noise don't attack Reapers, which was a given. So, if he wanted to fight something, he would have to capture some Noise and-

...Dammit. Did he even get new taot papers?

Straightaway, he began checking his trouser pockets, grimacing as he came up empty before whipping his hands to his knapsack zippers. Within half a moment, he drew back his hands. The thought of the posh bastard or Sadist Saiyama slipping in a few out of the goodness of their hearts would never be a thing.

'Figures.' The Harrier simply sighed in disappointment as he slumped onto his knapsack. 'Of all the things I could have forgotten to do… I forgot to get something that's vital to my role as a Harrier Reaper.' A few seconds later, it occurred to him that it didn't really matter if he had taot papers. If he wasn't going to Erase any type of Player, what would he need them for? He let himself dwell on the subject matter as he rested on his bag, but still scolded himself for not thinking about this beforehand.

Just as he was trying to let his mind empty for a bit, hoping that could stop his bad luck from seeping in more, he could have sworn he heard stomps… Widening his eyes, he yanked himself out of the slump and hugged his knapsack to his chest, straining his ears for a bit before he narrowed his eyes. 'Fucking hell…' He gritted his teeth. 'I'm not going to let that old man ruin my Day.'

Quickly pivoting, he pushed hard on his feet to start running away. He haphazardly slung one strap over his shoulder, struggling to slip his other arm through the abandoned strap as he could have sworn Sadist Saiyama was calling out for him… Well, the Harrier would only hope it was another Harrier Reaper, seeing as the old man didn't have a name to use for him.

"Scamp!"

...Forget that last part. This was the time to get the hell out of here and pray hard that the sadist wouldn't give chase.

As he flew into the Scramble Crossing, pretending cars weren't almost slamming into him, he only stopped to bounce on his toes while whipping his head back and forth and around in panic over which direction he could go. He wasn't sure which Routes were open for the Mission today- not to mention the Mission itself- as he was well aware of how the sadist was growing closer…

Randomly picking one, he sprinted for the Route leading to the north-west districts only to cry out as he bounced off of a diamond flickering Wall. He placed his hands over his throbbing nose, groaning in pain as he scowled vexedly at the red-hooded Reaper who didn't react to how the Harrier did a Player-move. The Harrier wasn't going to spend time asking for this Support to lower their Wall… there were rules about keeping Walls up until the Mission of each Day ended. That is, unless Harriers could ask nicely for an off-duty Support to help them with whatever shit they needed the Support for. But unfortunately, this wasn't one of these occasions, and the Harrier didn't have a solid reason to lug a Support around.

Trying to calculate how much distance he could buy back with another Route, the Harrier's eyes burned as he kept his hands on his face while he bolted for the Route next to- he skidded to a halt before receiving the same fate. Giving out a muffled yell as his hands felt like they rubbed against a serrated knife, the Harrier didn't bother to wait for the daze to go away as he all but staggered over to the only other Route he could take: Circle Link.

With one look in the direction of Hachiko's statue, he noticed the sadist was standing in the way and watching him from afar before cursing under his breath. He promptly turned to face the final Support Reaper. "Isz yorr Warll opin?"

"Uh…" The Support's lower jaw shifted; was he grimacing? "Are you… okay...?"

"Plrese anshwuer the queestun," the Harrier intoned back through his stinging hands, adjusting them when his nose started to buzz.

The Support was silent for a while before shaking his head with a sigh, "No... Didn't you hear the Mission is in Dogenzaka?"

"Ohg reailly?" the Harrier breathed in a falsely sounding spirited tone then grumbled under his breath, "Thaas's sow peaatchy to knoaw… thaaanks yew…"

Feeling as if he were an animal with a tail between his legs, the Harrier sulked as he stalked over to the centre of the intersection and mentally screamed in his head. He still hated how much it hurt to slam into Walls... When he initially encountered one, he only experimentally slid a finger across it after Number One was deflected off, regretting later how much it felt like he sliced open his finger.

As he moaned in pain at the thrum that started going through his nose, grimacing and scolding himself about what he could do now, Sadist Saiyama was on the move. The Harrier hated how he had nowhere to run, irately cursing the posh bastard's logic of how Walls were to be maintained, even if they weren't needed, was to bar Players' paths in case something incidentally happened to the other Walls as the shaggy haired man stomped closer.

He could always escape through the Realground, but running around with a bloody nose and wounded hands would only slow him down and attract undivided attention. People would stare at him, people would feel concern for him… and people would try to help him. He couldn't afford to go to the hospital when it wasn't authorized for Reapers; it would use up resources that were for those who actually needed it and the posh bastard would have an aneurism if he found out the Harrier was carted to one.

It frustrated the Harrier even more that, in the heat of the moment, he didn't slip into the Realground before he foolishly injured himself. It was just dandy he didn't look over his options properly and had to face the consequences because of that... and this was exactly why he kept telling Andy they shouldn't be running off without a plan! If the Harrier wasn't having a godawful Day... he wouldn't be in this bind! Yes, the Harrier resigned to accept, he wouldn't be trapped here if it weren't for the fact everything was shitting down on him and now he was waist-deep in it! And now- now he had to live with this because the fucking sadist himself has come to torture him... Why not give him the posh bastard to top it all off!? The Harrier certainly thought it wasn't bad enough, so surely the universe would pour more of its love into him by throwing devil darling into the mix! It wasn't beneath it to crap more on him... so why not!?

Aware of how the burly man had just halted, the Harrier refused to turn around or speak to the ex-army man.

"That must have hurt," rumbled the sadist as the Harrier felt the man tower over him. "Looked like a nasty-"

The Harrier merely shook his head and vehemently kept his scowl in the other direction.

All the sadist did in response was sigh, "Alright, alright…" The Harrier felt a twitch of annoyance as Sadist Saiyama stomped around, trying to pivot himself away only to pause at how matter-of-fact the sadist appeared. The Harrier couldn't help but frown when that observation resulted in the burly man's success in facing the younger Reaper now. "You know you can heal yourself with your Points, right?"

It was bad enough the old man wouldn't stop running into him… degrading him through the last time they saw each other… but now? Looks like the old man thought he was better than the Harrier if the man was acting like the Harrier didn't know jackshit about what his Points would do for him. However, what made the Harrier feel acrimonious was the fact that the sadist likely knew the Harrier didn't have healing Pins on him, so the old man was now baiting the younger into having to grovel over how the man supplied a solution to the Harrier's 'misfortunate' situation. However, the Harrier knew the sadist hadn't even regarded the fact that the Harrier wasn't going to do as the sadist expected him to.

To put it simply, the Harrier had this conundrum: If he used his Points to heal something as fribble as his nose and hands, he would lose a portion of time before his expiration date for nothing. From what the Harrier knew, your Points could be used to extend your Survival Capacity- as that appeared to be the coined term- or it could be sprinkled onto yourself to undo any oopses that may have befallen to you. It all the more promised that you need to be careful with yourself in the Underground, because if you weren't, your magical cure to aches and pains would exhaust the time you had left to exist. And, for the Harrier's sake... if he valued his existence, he wasn't stupid enough to toss his existence into the wind over mild nuisances.

Therefore, the most sensible thing to do would be to find a Reaper with a Cure Drink or alternative Psyche that could poof away the ailments he had on him. Yet... that now meant the Harrier had to play the stale, boring game of silence with the ex-army man until it clicked the sadist shouldn't be 'affable' with the Harrier. But, to be frank, the sadist had to have some kind of senile shit he had to be doing on his plate today... right?

Backing away, the Harrier shook his head stubbornly.

Sadist Saiyama merely huffed, "Fine. Be that way." As the old man crossed his arms, he seemed to be sizing the Harrier up as the older Harrier's deep, gritty voice rumbled, "Thought I'd check in with you."

'Damn you,' thought the Harrier in annoyance, gritting his teeth as his face and hands kind of started to feel numb. He lowered his hands, not wanting to appear pathetic or make the sadist's Day from knowing the Harrier hated this. 'I'd pay anyone to Erase you, old man… I have all the Yen Pins literally on my back, and I won't feel bad if I empty the knapsack on the road right now just to never see you again...'

Pursing his lips, the Harrier begrudgingly held his ground and offered nothing to the 'conversation'. If he even made a peep, the game would be thrown and the sadist would have his satisfaction.

In response, the sadist didn't even seem phased by the fact the Harrier wasn't going to talk to him. He merely blinked as his flap kept moving. "Well, if I had to be honest, I couldn't get my mind off what you told me the other Day."

'...So it's been at least a Day since you screwed with me.' The Harrier couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at that. 'How sweet of you to remind me...'

"But, I was just wondering if you wanted to... let's just say... get some grub?" mumbled the sadist as one of his boots tapped the ground for a moment, his folded arms becoming more loosely held as his gaze appeared calmer. "By that I mean food. Just thought I'd ask since you looked lonely back there, and-"

"Whai can't chu leeave me alown?" he hissed back waspishly, having decided that he didn't want the old man to continue that line of thinking. He didn't regret it, seeing as the moment the word 'lonely' came out into the open, the Harrier's truculence over how the sadist was messing with him couldn't be restrained any longer. Sniffing sharply, and grimacing at the vibrating prickles he felt going through his nostrils, he added coldly, "We'rwe noutt even friewns…"

After giving a harumph, the sadist narrowed his eyes. "I seriously can't understand what you're saying."

Inhaling raggedly before huffing out in frustration, the Harrier told himself he wouldn't lower himself to such a level usually, but he wasn't going to let the sadist believe all was fine with him rampaging through the Harrier's existence. Or, if he were to be precise, believe nothing was bad about how he was fucking it over for the Harrier.

However, if the Harrier were to do it in an understandable manner…

Spinning away from the sadist, the Harrier stretched his arms over his head. He did so contently, pretending he wasn't groaning out in pain as well, to rotate and rest his hands behind his head before extending out his middle fingers. Upon receiving an annoyed noise from the sadist, the Harrier couldn't decide on smirking or frowning as he lowered his arms to stop doing the gesture.

"Oh, if you would just-" The old man cut himself off, suddenly lumbering closer to the Harrier who cringed before trying to duck as the old man was about to thump a hand against the Harrier's face. Upon thrusting himself to the side, openly glaring at the frustrated old man, the Harrier crouched, bouncing slightly to ready himself in the case that the old man was going to do another attempt. And sure enough, the sadist's shoulders went stiff before he did so. "Stand... still-"

"No!" spat the Harrier instantly when the sadist's hand glowed with a brilliant brown aura. "Fucing stoph fet!"

As he moved, he was aware of how the sadist moved slower than the Harrier, which was great to know for him. The Harrier tried diving and jumping away whenever the sadist got close, yet as the Harrier laughed to himself at how despicable the sadist was being, he yelped at a slap of something sharply coiling around his leg before he lost his balance. Upon roughly landing, feeling all the scrapes he just received in his daze, the Harrier grimaced as he tried crawling into a better position to get up. Unfortunately, stomps quickly came before the old man's hand pressed him into the cement, causing the Harrier growled in frustration.

"You know," said the older Harrier as he gripped the younger Harrier's shoulder; a painful squeeze on the Harrier's legs made him groan out involuntarily when his limbs were forced together. "I stand corrected." The old man pulled the Harrier onto his back and knapsack, whilst the Harrier felt an uncomfortable sensation of something coiling further around his legs as he painfully rested on it, as the old man's firm gaze burned down on him. Soon the larger man released the Harrier's shoulder to draw his hand towards the Harrier's face. "Your nose isn't the nastiest thing I've seen from you…" growled the older man as his hand glowed earthy-brown again.

The younger Harrier simply spitted and tried to twist his head away, that is, he was doing that until he froze at a balmy sensation settling around his nose. The earlier fuzzy, burning pang could almost be forgotten by him as slight lightheadedness came to the Harrier and slowly unclenched his gritted teeth. He soon pressed his lips together instead while glowered past the hand.

From what he could see, the sadist's expression held no anger, no malice… It was simply stoic, through and through. "I'm not here to be an enemy."

"Thaf's furn...nee" started the Harrier in a slur before he narrowed his eyes more, ignoring the warmth on his face for the most part. "Becauzz deh waay Ie see fet, yew knauked daowen aah Reaapur whoo never asked for you to heal him."

Sadist Saiyama withdrew his hand, after the Harrier had spoken properly, to wave it over the Harrier's hands to cease the agony in them. His expression hardened into a scrunched ugliness as he rose up. "On the other hand, you're a spoiled brat."

"Then use your Points to reverse that," scoffed the Harrier as he sat up, only to almost roll over sideways had he not hastily slapped his hands down on the cement on his left side.

Harshly breathing as he glared at the ground, he slowly turned his head to his legs and huffed out when he saw that his legs were snared by a coil of ebony. As he followed the trail of the leather cord, he soon found it led back to a handle in the sadist's dirty hand.

'Ahah… so that's what you use.' Sharply shifting his gaze to the old man's face, feeling his body and neck protest at the strain he simply ignored, he felt his lips pinch together more. 'Wonder what took you so long to bring it out...'

The thought crossed his mind that whips weren't usually that long, so it made no sense that the sadist could have bound the Harrier from such a far distance. In retrospect, he's never actually seen a whip up close before, but something told him the strength that was needed for the cord to catch his body fluently and the strength needed to crack the whip would have been lost the further away the cord was from the whip handle itself... However, he couldn't help but think a Psych must have been in the works, considering how the length had shortened drastically since the sadist came closer.

Deciding to put his ponder aside for later, the Harrier simply gave a sigh then focused on the sadist again instead of the still fluctuating length of the cord.

"I don't know what your deal is..." he said in a low voice as he bent over his stomach and removed one hand from the ground, feeling the edges of his teeth slide against each other as he placed it on one of the coils. "I can't crunch all the times you've deliberately shoved yourself into my existence for the last two Weeks… but of all the times you do nothing but act as a damn pain in the fucking neck…" Pulling at the leather in his grip, not removing his gaze from the man, he growled coldly, "I want to know why you don't understand."

"Hmph." As the Harrier felt the leather shift, he pushed against the road with his legs and other hand while the man towering over him frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about, boy."

"Oh, believe me," returned the Harrier snippily as he finally freed his lower limbs, yet that wasn't enough to cool down the anger bunched in the pit of his heart as it simmered strong and unyielding. "If I had it my way," he continued bitterly, bending his knees and twisting his feet as he swung his upper-body to his right, planting his hands down and pushed hard to throw himself up. The Harrier stumbled slightly on his feet before he remained standing in front of the sadist, becoming rigid as he leered up darkly. "We would have never saw each other after the posh bastard took my fucking wings."

"I thought you said you didn't care about losing them," grunted the sadist as he adopted a wary look.

"I'm afraid you're ill-informed then." The Harrier paused before he huffed, "I said I'll never get them back."

The shaggy haired man sighed gruffly, his eyes glinting dangerously as he barked, "What's your point?"

"My point is-" The Harrier slowly backed away, each step a shallow half-circle strategically taken until he stood a few feet away. He frowned back at the larger man from the safer distance. "My existence doesn't need the likes of you hanging over my shoulder as a deadweight any longer."

He felt his fingers curl in the way a spider would jaggedly bend their spindly limbs, feeling nothing but a squirming aggravation twitch incessantly within him; his blood was boiling. "Because of you," he said shallowly while tipping his head slightly. His eyes lolled almost to the ground, yet the top of his gaze still held the tattered-sleeved ex-army man in his vision. "Almost every opportunity I've had to proceed with my goals has been awashed with hassle, grief, torment…" He clenched his teeth suddenly and spat out, "Because you don't understand the lines between us hold no bearing- no gravity for us to be associated with each other!"

The old man's grip on his whip tightened. His gaze was unreadable, yet his curled back lips in his ugly frown told the Harrier enough.

"Are you happy?" asked the Harrier airily cool, realigning his head to be at its normal level as his heart started to throb. "Making my existence miserable? Taking time out of my Day to use me for your antics? Screwing with me because you want to see how far you can go before I crack!?" He lowered his head, narrowing his eyes as he smiled icily. "In order to prove that you can?"

"The last thing I would do is harm without having a reason," growled the sadist gruffly. "It's the method to my madness."

"Then you admit it!" The Harrier frowned hard immediately before he spat harshly, "Everything was set up!" He abruptly stepped forward with a stomp. "Wasn't it!?" His eyes burned as he clenched his hands and shouted more, "Giving me trouble while slowly using your hand to bring me down to madness- trying to delude me into thinking I could get around you at every corner, yet at every moment you imposed yourself on every fucking situation I found myself in! You just wanted to be in the front row to see how much I will bend before I snap- and break- for your sick entertainment!"

"Then how is everything turning out for you?"

Almost as if those were the vital words needed to puncture a hole in a dam, the Harrier sucked in breath sharply as heat burned behind his eyes and hiccuped. That must have caught the sadist off-guard because the man went still as the Harrier stiffly shook where he stood.

It was pathetic… it was pathetic that the Harrier couldn't control how much those words lashed right where it needed to, to remind him what had previously been absent on his mind when the sadist had appeared today. The Harrier gritted his teeth, harshly yet unsteadily breathing as he felt like his arms and torso were being squeezed. He couldn't help how the words he read from the Composer's response were now floating in and out of his ears, the prominent word being 'disappointed'. The Harrier tried so hard to not cover his ears and crumple right now in front of the sadist, even when the voice kept taunting him... The voice wouldn't stop-

He clenched his eyes shut. "Th-That's a loaded question…" His lips loosely hung parted and quivered as he frowned. "Th-Thinking you can rub the salt further in… t-twist the knife harder and make it all fester…" Shaking his head, he breathed out weakly, "Why not tell me what you think is turning out for me… Why not join in and rejoice…" He gritted his teeth, cupping his hand over his chest and squeezed the fabric within his grasp promptly as he hissed out, "Because why wouldn't you be glad about the outcome?"

As the Harrier breathed unevenly, his throat feeling dry and his head spinning, Sadist Saiyama started to approach. "What happened?" the old man asked with uncharacteristic solemness; forbearing. "I won't ask if you're okay... because you-"

"Shut up." The Harrier hung his head and inhaled quickly with a sniff, feeling his eyes water as the sides of his eyes glistened. "Don't act dumb and pretend you have a say that you care about this… You should be celebrating, yet-"

"Look at me," said the sadist as he grew closer. "What's wrong?"

"That won't work again, old man," he grounded out coldly. The Harrier was too aware of how his chest ached and a heaviness began to collect on it as he hissed out, "I know what you did to me-" He stepped back; his footing was wobbly as he shook his head. "I know you were trying to tweak me for some damn means that I don't understand, yet I know you just wanted to have a chance to finally have your turn in screwing with me."

"That's not-"

"I've had it with you thinking you can do whatever you want to me!" he spat out as he tightened his grip over his heart area, stomping his next step down before his body released a shudder. "You were manipulating me because you could! You knew you did because you kept praising me for every goddamn command I couldn't control myself from doing because of some damn suggestibility I was under-" He abruptly paused to inhale in too little of air before he spat out again, "Don't deny this! Admit it! You wanted to destroy what little I had left of myself you fucking, sick, lying bastard!" He narrowed his eyes as he raggedly breathed, "That's what you've wanted all, this, time...!"

The sadist's footsteps ceased; a sigh followed. "...Even if I tell you why I did it, that won't stop you from hating me. But, whatever is bothering you…" Another sigh came, "It's easy to see it's eating you up."

"What does it matter about me…?" The Harrier's lips drew together to frown shakily. "Nothing matters about me because everything that I say, think, or do isn't important. It isn't important to anyone. You might even say... " He felt warm liquid roll over his face, shooting downward to wobble on his slanted chin as he breathed out wetly, "My only use would be something that should be Erased... recycled into something that truly does matter."

When he received silence, he hollowly went on, "I mean, I don't matter, so what does it matter if I remain?" He closed his eyes and his breath hitched during his sniffle, tearfully mumbling, "It's simple: There's nothing left for me to do… so there's nothing that I can do… I might make for a better Noise than an asshole who wastes resources because what do I fucking do if I can't do the one thing I thought mattered…?"

He let out a wretched laugh; his heart throbbing harder as his chest bounced from the painful rumbles. "It's like I was bred to masquerade as a precious jewel, only to be found I was crud that was just painted to be of use for something. I wasn't bred for success- I was bred to be a fucking tumour that has nothing to latch onto- so what use do I have as that pathetic tumour for anything!?"

Stomps started again, yet the Harrier ignored them to continue laughing, not caring how far the sadist was because it didn't matter. There was nothing for him and he was nothing; might as well fucking accept-

A crack split through the air.

The Harrier let out a cry that went mute, being forcibly spun to his left and instantly slumped over his stomach as it burned rawfully. He ignored his wailing shoulder as he shakily gasped out in shock; his eyes going wide as his thoughts froze.

He blinked in bafflement when he finally lifted his head swiftly in a jerk, staring up at the sadist, who finally closed the distance between them as his whip trailed on the cement beside him.

"D-Did you just-" the Harrier managed to breathe out, only to balk upon noticing the sadist's nightmarish glower.

"Does it hurt?" asked the sadist gravely. His lips were completely flat, even though the Harrier knew they should have been in a deep frown. "Did you feel that?"

"O-Of course I did-" quickly said the Harrier, seeing stars momentarily before he stuttered out, "You struck me!"

"Good." The Harrier immediately frowned at that, yet didn't stop hugging his torso before noticing the sadist's arm reared with the whip. Feeling his eyes bulge a fraction, the Harrier threw himself backwards just in time and the sadist cracked the whip on the pavement instead. "Why did you dodge?" the sadist asked suddenly in an odd tone when pulling back the cord of the whip.

"Why did I-" The Harrier's expression screwed up, frowning bemusedly yet warily as the sadist smiled for some reason while raising the whip again. Jerking up, the Harrier grimaced as the previous pain spilled through his torso again before he felt himself leaning backwards as he stepped back with alarm. He cried out, "You were going to hit me again!"

"It's not like it matters if I do," replied the sadist with a shrug. "You don't care."

The Harrier shook his head in dismay, backing away more as his eyes remained fixated on the whip.

"You made that clear, so stand still," grunted the sadist gruffly as he reared his whip back, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Come on... I don't have all Day."

The younger Reaper immediately whipped his hands up and held his palms towards the sadist. "What do you think you're doing!?" the Harrier demanded as he stopped to send a scowl. "Stop it!"

"For someone who doesn't care, you're squirming around a lot." The sadist grinned wolfishly, releasing a rumbly guffaw, "Don't tell me you're scared."

"I-I'm-" The Harrier clenched his teeth before thrusting away from another lash from the whip, unsteadily rocking on his toes as he narrowed his eyes and spat, "If you try that again one, more-" He jerked into a stumble as the leather flew at him again, almost jogging as he backed away warily while clenching his hands to fists. "Why are you doing this!?" he snapped before releasing an aggravated snarl, "Stop screwing around with me...!"

"I'm not going to stop," the sadist told him, causing the Harrier to take another step only to find that he found contact with a wall. With a quick look to the half-built skyscraper nearby Circle Link's entrance then to the sadist, the Harrier bristled while the sadist taunted, "What are you going to do about it…?"

"I don't know what you're doing…" The Harrier watched the whip carefully as he soon went on lowly, "But if you-" He flinched, yet before he could leap away, his movement was cut short as his arm was snagged by the whip. The Harrier felt himself jerk and start to keel when he grasped the cord and righted himself, but he was involuntarily yanked towards the sadist almost immediately. He began to try and pull himself away, only to be practically clawing at the leather that refused to uncoil from his arm.

'Is it possessed or something!?' he thought in alarm. 'Why won't it budge!?'

"If you think I'm going to let you go, because you think bullshitting yourself with excuses and yammers will work..." The sadist gave a hard tug, making the Harrier cry out as he lost his balance and landed roughly with a groan from feeling the added sting of his earlier injury. Upon twisting his head to send an exasperated leer to the man from where he was painfully sprawled, the burly man shook his head before he soon growled out, "Think again, Scamp."

Suddenly, the older Harrier grasped the handle of the whip with his other hand, testing the tautness of the leather. In the meantime, the Harrier tried pulling at the leather as much as he could to hopefully loosen it as soon as possible, but then the sadist shifted his arms before rotating his whole body around abruptly. On cue, to his dismay, the Harrier's body followed.

Being gyrated around, with his sight failing to keep up with it, made the Harrier's head spin to point he felt sick as he desperately tried harder to free himself. His stomach even started to churn as his vision soon whirled when he noticed he was freefalling now, so the sadist must have flung him out of range at some point. But that was last thing he needed to focus on right now; the Harrier had to act fast to figure out which was up and which was down before he ended up as roadkill.

Squinting, he concentrated as hard as he could before an idea came to mind. Instead of inducing a worse dizzy spell, he reached out with his energy and plunged it through his body, knowing he had no time to spare to make a recovery move so he hoped it was ready for use.

With a silent prayer that he wasn't too late, he drew his hand to his chest and touched Cripplecheck through his hoodie fabric.

His surroundings stopped, leaving him to think clearer and rotated himself correctly so he could land painfully on his hands and knees. Merely grimacing, he took note that he was several feet from the sadist, who was suspended in his previously stopping twirl with his face intense, while the Support Reapers were congregated together and pointing in the Harrier and sadist's direction. Not to mention, Kanji started to form and glitch in the air around those vultures, yet the Harrier saw no reason to view them right now in the muted-coloured environment.

Pushing himself up to stand, he frowned for a moment before simply tapping his trusty Pin again.

Feeling himself jerk, as the uncomfortable feeling of waterloggedness from the wind tousling him about earlier struck him hard, he placed a hand over his stomach while he gagged and made a slight noise from that. 'Ugh… can't help it can't erase the past sensations.' Upon surveying his surroundings, noticing how the sadist and Support Reapers were blatantly staring at him in bafflement now, he simply sipped on the air and sighed mentally. '...Not to mention the reactions.'

Shooting a glance in the sadist's direction, the Harrier simply shrugged nonchalantly. "Cute."

The sadist's expression receded into thoughtfulness, frowning as he grunted, "That settles it then."

"Hmm?" The Harrier blinked, frowning in confusion as he felt himself lose his composure. "What are you talking about?"

"For someone who was just glorifying Erasure five minutes ago," growled the sadist with a disgruntled grunt, slapping his whip handle to his muddied-belt. "Begging for it…" He shook his head briefly before he crossed his arms grumpily. "You did the last thing you should have if you meant it."

The Harrier bristled. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Feh." The sadist started to walk closer, his expression hardening as his eyes didn't leave the Harrier. "What do you think it means? You were lying." He pointed at the Harrier with a sausage finger as his eyes darkened when stopping. "Whatever you're angsting about is garbage- literal garbage to claim you wanted to be Erased."

"You don't know what-"

"Shut your pie-hole!" snapped the sadist, causing the Harrier to flinch.

Before the Harrier seized the chance to defend himself again, the sadist barked out angrily, "I know what a dead man looks like even before he's blasted to chunks before my fucking eyes- the kind that falls on their underbellies and dies!" He huffed gruffly before he growled on, "You didn't even let me do the deed of terminating you… so was this all a joke!? That you think you can casually joke about Erasure being the best thing since sliced bread when you can't even stand getting a flesh wound!?"

Balling up his fists, the Harrier coldly regarded the man before turning his head away. "You don't know me."

"It's impossible to know anyone here, boy," sniffed the older Harrier with deride. "Heck, I don't even want to know what your deal is. But it's not like I fucking have a choice- because you won't stop going on about murder like it's a sport!"

The Harrier's gaze hardened. "...So you've been intentionally getting in my way."

"It's hard to not notice dead bodies popping up like they were from rabbits going at it," returned the sadist coldly, snorting noisily before he spat, "What I'm trying to say is that no matter what you say now, I know for sure you're kidding yourself when you say you want to be Erased. If you had wanted Erasure, why didn't you stand still for me?"

The Harrier scoffed as he narrowed his eyes, "I don't know."

"You do know, or you don't know... it's like you can't make up your mind." Sadist Saiyama lumbered closer, every stomp his boots made grinded on the Harrier's nerves as he whipped his head to leer at the approaching behemoth. Murky-green eyes regarded him as the sadist sneered, "Or who knows? Maybe fight-or-flight does have it's kicks…" He patted the side of his head with a cold smile. "But don't tell me you're thick-skulled... you have to have some intelligence left inside you."

Gritting his teeth, the younger Reaper simply drew his head forward to fully face the old man and hissed, "If you're so worried about how I didn't get Erased, why don't you just crush my fucking neck like the smart cookie you are should?"

"That can be arranged, provided that you don't struggle." The sadist's smile deepened, grimly making it turn ugly as he thumped a hand into his left open fist. The audible smack made the Harrier tense. "Unless…" slurred the sadist with his lips curling into a smiling sneer. "You want to fess up for what's actually eating you."

"You wouldn't understand," retorted the Harrier as he lowered his gaze, feeling his bottom lip quiver as he grounded out in frustration, "No one ever understands…" He balled his hands into fists again. "Not you- not the posh bastard- no one!"

He shook his head before he bitterly snarled, "In this Plane we reside in, we are groomed for becoming the vultures that tried to prey on us once. The food chain is supposed to be the same for everyone, but while the facts are given out, those who don't conform to them are penalized even though we want to serve the place we were grateful to end up in. This is supposed to be a place that's a refuge to the Dead-" He whipped his head up. "But it's just a fucking shithole!"

As the sadist's expression failed to change, the Harrier's eyes burned as he gasped out, "Forgive me for growing a conscience!" He narrowed his eyes and harshly went on as he threw up his arms angrily, "Forgive me for wanting to do something for the greater good! Even though everything has gone to shit, at least I know I tried to push for change that our dear city needed!"

"Tried?" Suddenly, the sadist's face lost its intensity and appeared confused.

"You fucking don't get it!" spat the Harrier as he backed away, breathing unsteadily as he felt warmth pool behind his gaze again. "Why push for change when it's only to be frowned upon by the one that needs to care about it!? Why push for change when no one takes you seriously!? Why push for change when you're the scum of the Underground!?"

Sadist Saiyama frowned, adopting a wary look as he growled, "You see?" The Harrier threw a dirty look as the sadist huffed, "If you truly have given up, why are you so vehement about whatever you're going on about?"

"Who asked you!?" snapped the Harrier as he let out a growl in his throat. "You're not the fucking fool who has nothing to exist for!"

"Then what's the problem?" The sadist stopped and crossed his arms again, raising an eyebrow expectantly. "The longer you bottle it up, it'll eat you up like those Yellow Noise nearly did."

"They could have me with a side of my dead body for all they want!" The Harrier clenched his eyes closed, gritting his teeth as he shouted rawfully, "It's not like I'm important- not like I matter- not like anyone who would care for because I've long since accepted that I'm WORTHLESS!"

"Do you attribute yourself on whether or not you can or cannot do things?" sternly asked the sadist as he narrowed his eyes. The Harrier pressed his hands against his hood to cover his ears as the old man stepped closer as he barked, "Are you even hearing yourself!?" His hands pushed harder against his ears. "You're rambling and not making sense anymore! Everything you're telling me right now clings to nothing! You're spiraling into despair through useless obsession over something you can't even explain properly!"

"Fuck you!" spat the Harrier bitterly as he eased open his eyes slightly, backing up as pressure began to build in his chest. He felt as if it was trying to punch at and burst out of his chest at the same time as he bit out, "Y-You just don't… understand!"

The Harrier felt like he was quivering, his footing becoming unsteady as he half-regarded the sadist and half-regarded the fact his torso hurt. His body halted itself as agony rippled away from his chest, making him gasp out and tremble on the spot as he bent over his stomach while his vision was splashed with black, white and rainbow fuzziness. His teeth clattered as he felt himself lock up, closing his eyes even more as he tried to breathe only to shallowly inhale.

"...What's wrong!?" asked the sadist, his voice melding with the static and ringing swallowing the Harrier's hearing. "Hey- are you listening to me!?"

"S-Stay away from me-" the Harrier managed to gasp out in a small voice. "D-Don't come closer-"

His heart thickly pulsed in his ears, making him press his hands against them more as his face contorted. He couldn't tell what was going on around him as his vision flashed behind his eyelids for no reason and shook as it distorted with variously changing colours. Something was coming up his throat and he felt his gag reflect kick in, soon feeling lightheaded as whatever it was stubbornly refused to stop crawling up his esophagus…

A nasty flavour came into his mouth and he wasn't able to discern what he was tasting before he felt it leak out from his parted lips. The Harrier couldn't figure out if he was revolted by that or if it reminded him enough of blood being choked out of a person… his mind reeling as he coughed pathetically and felt more of it come out...

All in an instant, the moment pressure settled near his shoulder, he involuntarily felt himself whip his head up as he slapped it away.

Stumbling backwards, the Harrier stared wide-eyed at the sadist who blinked out his vision momentarily. He clenched his eyes tightly shut. "Stay away from me!"

Even as he inhaled and exhaled deeply in a crude hybrid of hyperventilation, the side of his vision caught the glimpse of a bright scarlet swirl, that turned into a wisp upon leaving his previously enveloped fingers. Suddenly, his vision zoomed in and out before a headache came over him, grimacing as he felt his body relax slightly. He realized he could sense the energy lingering, as if it was still ready on the tips of his fingers…

Feeling his mouth drop, he quickly turned his head to the sadist who still hovered close by. Flinching, he abruptly stepped back and glowered at the man even as the pain still resonated in his chest.

"Go away…" he warned the old man lowly, trying to move his stiff body to somewhat adopt a crouch. Inhaling with a wince, he found it took a lot more effort to speak when he hissed out, "I-If you don't leave my sight… in the next minute…" He clenched his jaw tightly. "I will make you…"

"You're in no state to make those kind of demands," gruffly grunted Sadist Saiyama with a deep, ugly frown. He whisked his hand lacklustrely as he hmphed, "I don't even know what I saw, but from what I can see- your body's strained… almost ready to come apart if I blow air on it..."

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" the Harrier retorted back as he felt his body begin to lock up again, curling his hands into fists as he shook his head roughly. "My body is perfectly fine as it is!"

"Don't be stupid!" snapped the sadist harshly as he began advancing forward, his hard glare burning down on the Harrier and the Harrier met it unflinchingly with his own. The old man stiffly shook his hands twice towards the Harrier with fraught anger. "I saw particles dripping from your mouth- your particles!"

"The only thing I care about is never seeing you again." The Harrier stepped back, yet struggled to place one foot down upon doing so. He gritted his teeth and growled before he shouted loudly, "I don't need you looming over me! I don't need you shackling me to the River again! I just want you to get out of my sight!"

"You need help!" insisted the sadist stubbornly.

"No... I…" His expression contorted before he darted forward. "DON'T!"

Before he realized it, he reared an arm back while throwing himself into the air, swinging it forward as the bright scarlet returned to warp around his fist. Just feeling the energy flowing from his hand… traveling through his veins to surface around other in-motion parts of his body while he surged towards at the sadist… made him feel akin to being drunk- Not drunk, but drunk from the power itself as a familiar emotion swelled in his aching chest for the first time in Weeks.

The sadist didn't have time to react before the Harrier's clout contacted his right collarbone region, his expression twisting into shock before his head hung heavily from the recoil. Splashes of scarlet erupted under the Harrier's feet when they each touched onto the road as he pivoted sharply, drawing a scarlet-enveloped leg back then the left one to the side before he swung his right shin at the old man's side in a roundabout kick. As soon as he finished, he slammed his foot back down to thrust himself out of range from the sadist.

Hopping backwards with each step he took immediately after, steeling his gaze as he shifted his feet to bounce on the spot to maintain momentum, he watched warily as the sadist slowly turned his head to grimly regard him.

"When you're out of options…" started the sadist aloofly, his eyes dark and face taut, he simply stood there without checking on his injuries as the Harrier had expected him to. Clearly the sadist felt those attacks… so perhaps the sadist trained himself to ignore them with how he didn't give any indication he had to the younger Reaper. "Feh, you just throw reason out the window and do what any other Reaper would have done ages ago."

The Harrier felt an aggravated itch inside him, not wanting the sadist to downsize his efforts to scare him off so he yelled as he threw himself forward again. Usually he would be refuting the old man's spewed logic with his own, but right now, he didn't care. He couldn't care with how much anger he felt towards the old fool.

He felt as if he was almost gliding across the pavement as he reared a new punch, already mapping out a new course to move in the moment he noticed the sadist took on a defensive stance. Just before he met the sadist head-on, the younger kicked hard to diagonally spring away from the man, pushing energy into Alla Breve to accelerate his motion to avoid the swipe meant for him. He didn't dare lose focus as when he felt his first foot land, he slammed the other down to spring at the sadist again. In the short amount of time he shot forward, he mentally prepared himself before bringing his right foot down to cut off his momentum to spin and hop up almost past the sadist's head to kick his other leg into the sadist's face.

His landing was clumsy from how his body spun to face the opposite direction, barely able to plan his next move before the sadist's large hand clamped onto his right shoulder then the Harrier's legs were knocked out from under him. The Harrier cried out before groaning in pain as the sadist seemingly brought his weight down to shove the Harrier to the ground, feeling the larger man hover and rest almost on the Harrier's knapsack with his upper-torso while clamping onto the next shoulder with his free hand.

"You're pretty fast." The sadist's voice rumbled above the Harrier's ears, sounding almost as if the old man was impressed which irked the Harrier. His mind instantly clutched onto the notion that it must have been his imagination from how dazed he was from being pinned to the ground like this, to save himself the grief of thinking too deeply into the meaning. After all, there was no time for focusing on that when he had to get an escape plan up and running. "But you didn't think fast enough."

The Harrier tried dragging his feet, hopefully get some use out of them, as he huffed, "You're one to talk."

"Feh, I'm not the one who made the mistake of idling too long."

Gritting his teeth, the Harrier closed his eyes. "Like you are?"

Before the sadist had a chance to respond, the Harrier sent energy in the meantime and willed for it to take form. As soon as he felt the Psyche established itself successfully, he opened his eyes and smirked coolly towards the preoccupied sadist. "I mean, come on- You're wasting your time, old man."

"Don't act cheek when you're-" The sadist paused before raising his head slightly. "Wait a minute…"

"Yeah… that's where you're wrong. Sorry to disappoint you, but..." chuckled the Harrier darkly as he forced his palm forward. His eyes grew sharp as he whisked his hand's fingers towards himself, promptly lashing his hand sharply forward whilst snapping his fingers at the sadist. "You're right where I want you."

Sadist Saiyama immediately flinched, his head turning too late as a torrent of fireflies surged his way from behind him. "What-!?" The moment the fireflies arrived as the sadist swung his body around and away from the pinned younger Reaper to spot the Harrier, past the sizzling, glowing insects that started to smoke and swarm the old man, fire erupted abruptly to create an explosion around him. "Gah-"

As a black cloud of smoke was forming, the Harrier simply felt the need to wait for it to disperse instead of recklessly charging in again to relish his small triumph. And when the sadist hauled himself up to sluggishly regard the Harrier from afar, the Harrier called over to the sadist smugly, "Aw… did that hurt…?"

He smiled coolly while internally laughing at the sadist's incredulous face, that glanced down at the spotless pavement below him then to the Harrier again in absolute shock.

"I don't usually like using Psyches unless I'm in need of them," continued the Harrier smoothly as he tilted his head cheekily. "Which, to be frank, was horribly unnecessary for an oldster who can hardly keep up with us youngsters."

"Hmph." The sadist shook his body a bit, probably to shake off invisible Psyche residue. As he pawed at a burn mark on his shoulder, he grunted as it disappeared, "You had me fooled, I'll give you that."

The Harrier bristled, taking a careful step forward as he spat, "I wasn't asking for your validation!" He bounced on his toes slightly, to hopefully prep Virtuoso again when he needed it next, as he growled, "I'm not trying to impress you for crying out loud- I just want you to go away! How many times do I have to say this!?"

"You made that clear already," grumbled the sadist as he narrowed his eyes. "But you're starting to piss me off with all your kicks and punches and-"

"I said, I didn't want to hear your opinion!" snapped the Harrier before pushing himself forward again.

This time, instead of acting like a human training dummy, the sadist reached for his whip straightaway. "This again?" The older Harrier uncoiled his whip with a single flick of his wrist, grabbing one part of the cord with his other hand to tug it taut. "If you're that raring to go for a fight," he growled in a murmur, as the Harrier kicked off the ground and reared for a punch, his expression darkening as he grunted, "Then let's fight."

Before the Harrier landed his attack, the sadist dropped his cord to swing his body enough to evade the punch with a pivoted side-step. Within the next trice, he caught the back of the Harrier's knapsack and halted the Harrier's momentum to chuck the younger Reaper back in the direction he came from.

The Harrier's watched the distance between him and the sadist grow quickly in brief alarm as he sailed backwards to tumble across the road in the next moment. He wasted no time after he stopped rolling to push himself up to leap out of the way of the sadist's whip, sending a glower the sadist's way as he shot his palm forward again to blast another wave of literal fireflies at the old man and continued in the direction he was travelling in.

As he circled the sadist, who tried to ward off the Harrier's Ignis Swarm unsuccessfully, the Harrier quickly drew in to kick the sadist's spine to see if he could get an extra hit in. And when he had, he quickly ran off to safety when the sadist turned to lash his whip to counter too late. The moment the whip struck the ground again, the Harrier called over his shoulder with contempt laughter, "What kind of vulture can't get a basic hit in!?"

"The kind that sees no reason but to let their opponents in to waste their energy," growled the sadist with a huff as he watched the Harrier dart around him easily.

"How does revealing your hand help you?" shrewdly asked the Harrier then scoffed, "You're not even trying!"

"I can take as many hits as you need to use on me any Day." The sadist drew his whip closer to him, his eyes hardening as the Harrier glanced around while looking for a good vantage point to attack again from. "Not my fault you don't like how I play by the rules."

"Quit stalling then!" The Harrier veered from his path, knowing he could get a hit in and get out of there without a sweat if the ex-army man refused to react properly in a battle. "Instead of being an ugly pylon- actually fight me, dammit!"

"Fine. Your funeral." With that, Sadist Saiyama dropped low to the road and placed his free hand on it flat.

Scowling in annoyance as he felt himself slow down, the Harrier frowned in bewilderment as he observed the sadist from where he had come to a stop. 'Ugh… how the hell does that translate to hurting me?'

The sadist had closed his eyes for some reason, his expression neutral as he silently kept his hand there and the Harrier couldn't help but feel wary all of a sudden. He stepped back, trying to judge what the man was trying to accomplish with doing what could be considered a weird form of meditation in the Harrier's mind. But as soon as the man's dull-coloured gaze opened, directly staring at the Harrier, the young Reaper twitched before scoffing and sprinted for the sadist. 'If he's not going to do anything, I may as well fucking help myself with-'

Just before the Harrier got in front of the sadist, the old man threw his arm with his whip's handle high above his head. He cracked the whip down hard into the spot the Harrier almost walked into the path of-

The Harrier had no time to react before he was sent hurtling away by a rock jutting into his gut.

When he roughly landed on his backpack meters away, even though it felt more like he landed on his spine, he felt dizzy as his head lolled to his left. The Harrier dazedly heard the sadist sigh, "That was stupid… Why didn't you stay where you were?"

"I know what makes people tick, but I haven't figured out how to read their minds yet," grumbled the Harrier irritably as he drew himself up to sit. He put a hand on the section of his skull that throbbed, scowling at the sadist. "But that's beside the point."

The sadist simply watched as the Harrier got up, not moving as the Harrier placed a hand over his stomach before deeming he was okay then adopted a crouch. He scrutinized the sadist as he ran through his earlier observations, the prominent thought being that the sadist hadn't moved out of the invisible circle on the road he claimed thus far. With how much the Harrier had to dash in to get some real hits in, his usual strategy was thrown out the window. The Harrier depended on being in motion to outwit his opponents… but if he had to keep rushing in for the offensive, the sadist may make it impossible for the Harrier to reach him in the future if his gut reminded him enough of that. Even when he had Ignis Swarm to bombard his opponents, he couldn't rely on it as much as he did for Virtuoso. Having his natural fighting abilities being augmented gave him freedom to act however he pleased, provided that he could get within close combat to utilize it properly…

Eyeing the rock structure that was a horn in the ground, he couldn't help but feel like he wouldn't have to worry about that sort of obstacle. With what he had done so far, the Harrier surmised he hardly dealt real damage to the behemoth… And if he were to attack without his momentum being interrupted, he would have to bring in the rest of his artillery.

"Scared?" The Harrier's thoughts were broken; he refocused on the sadist who continued gruffly, "Look, we don't need to keep fighting. How about we leave things at a draw, and-"

Narrowing his eyes, he immediately tapped Cripplecheck. 'Time to do some homework before we get the ball going again.'

However, the Harrier held his stance, quietly breathing as he soon frowned. 'I used it too early.' He tapped the Pin again, receiving the same result. 'Ah… well then.' He grimaced before shaking his head. 'I guess I'll have to go about the rest of this blind…"

Upon glancing back at the sadist, who arched an eyebrow as he pursed his lips at the Harrier, the younger Reaper flinched before he glared darkly at the burly man. "I'm not done with you-" He thrust himself forward to sprint at the man, narrowing his eyes to slits as he growled out, "This is far from over!"

The sadist immediately tensed before throwing his whip at the rock, the cord coiling rapidly before the structure was abruptly torn from the road to be chucked forward. The Harrier simply spitted before sending energy into Alla Breve, feeling air whirl swiftly past him as his body was thrust sideways and away from the catapulted rock. Skidding slightly as he veered to refocus his direction on the old man again, he quickly took note of how the sadist slammed his foot down before the crusty veins of pavement from the impact tore from the ground and spiked outward, beginning to slither rapidly towards the Harrier...

Before the younger Reaper could find an exit from the advancing welts of rocks, jagged pillars jutted out in front of him at several intervals until some surfaced underfoot without warning to rocket him into the air. Widening his eyes, he waved his hands loosely through the wind scuttling past his flying form as he was forced to freefall, watching helplessly as the sadist raised his head before throwing his whip at the Harrier.

'Don't you dare-' The Harrier gritted his teeth and immediately glanced to the ground before pushing energy to Shadow's Play, feeling his vision patch over and swim as if taking on an oily filter. His sight sharpened when he stood on the ground again as the thwack of the whip met his previous body. And with his new body, he straightaway charged back at the sadist.

The moment he reached a closer range, the Harrier thrust his palm forward to shoot a swirling, flashing flare of light. The sadist let out a cry of shock when it struck before he was reduced to rubbing his eyes, blinking dazedly just as the Harrier's next punch landed. When the Harrier watched the sadist's arm throw itself around aimlessly for him, the Harrier ducked and slipped under it to pivot back to deliver a rolling kick then another in the opposite direction as he spun on the spot.

"Get your eyes checked!" taunted the Harrier snidely while setting his foot down promptly, springing backwards to avoid the sadist's next blind swing. He tsked before laughing out with contempt triumph when he touched the road again, "You're not going to-"

Suddenly, the Harrier's breath was stolen as the whip coiled around his torso and arms. He immediately glared in annoyance as the sadist now turned his head, blinking a scowl directly at the Harrier. "Got you."

"Oh no…" breathed the Harrier with an eye-roll, shaking his head. "Whatever should I do…?"

"Can it!" barked the sadist before he dragged the whip sideways, then the Harrier was flipped in the air as the coil unwound before he landed uselessly with a small cry of pain. As the Harrier's vision tumbled and whirled, he vaguely felt the sadist raise his whip back. "How much longer do you need to be satisfied with this!?"

The Harrier tried to get up, yet he fell sideways as his vision slanted before something hard struck his face and sent him backflipping without warning. As he gasped out raggedly when his spine wailed in agony, his vision swimming as he tried to get up again, he felt his heart churn with anger as the sadist bellowed, "There's no need to commit to fighting when you're misguided!"

"Shut up-" The Harrier pushed himself up before throwing a new batch of fireflies at the sadist, lunging forward precariously to evade a wave of flying rocks from hitting him. "I just want you to leave me alone!"

"That can be done, but that doesn't answer my question!" retorted the sadist harshly before cracking his whip again. This time, it forced the Harrier to race against avoiding another wave of rocks that crawled across the road this time.

"You're lying!" the Harrier yelled out miserably furious as he leapt up over a wall of climbing rocks that abruptly sliced into his path, fumbling his landing to stagger into running again. "Even if I stop-" He nearly halted at the sight of rock structures erupting from the cement further in his path. "You're not going to stop chasing me wherever I go!"

He kept going and forced himself hastily upwards with the aid of Alla Breve, successfully having time for one of his feet to touch the top of the first rock column he nearly slammed into. He didn't let his motion die as he pushed off from it to jump to the next one, traversing a risky circuit of rapidly surfacing rock pillars that grew higher and higher until he was forced to spring off another, only to hurdle dangerously to the ground when the sadist didn't create another landing pad for him.

As his stepping leg pointed downward, and would likely be in intense pain once it struck the ground first, he knew he wouldn't maintain momentum from crashing so he created another of himself on the shadow below him. Before he knew it, he was running on the road, safe and sound, as his previous body burst into bright scarlet particles upon taking the fall for him.

The ground was now uneven under his Lygres; scoured with crusted grooves from the sadist's relentless onslaught. It almost caused the Harrier to lose his balance more often than not as he circled around the sadist again. Unlike before, he was traversing at a closer range than he wanted to be in, as two-thirds of where he had been running earlier was inaccessible because of the still standing pillars. The moment the thought crossed his mind, the sadist stomped down and the cement past his boot abruptly rippled to life to become an army of slithering, rolling cement that flew across the road.

In response to this, the Harrier readied himself to push harder on his feet to avoid the unified attack, yet to his confusion, they wove past him. It left the Harrier frowning incredulously nearby the half-circle's middle pillar, only to start seconds later at the sickeningly horrid sound of multiple cracks going off at the same time.

Turning around instantly, ignoring the sadist completely, he froze as from the base of each of them, from the lowest to highest, fracturing lines shot up to climb the formations before the pillars split apart without warning. He couldn't help but feel he was rooted to the spot, watching in horror as each cleaved cement fell away from each other to collide into neighbouring ones, breaking and separating into various disproportionate pieces as they were falling...

The Harrier gasped mutely, feeling as if his nerves reconnected the moment the first shard impaled the ground. He leapt almost thoughtlessly away from another before the rest were smashing upon impact, showering him and the road with fragments as he tried his best keep his head clear during his escape. He ran off in the direction of the pillars decreasing in size, hopping and springing off of the fallen debris that ravaged his path to avoid being stricken down. The Harrier knew he had better chances of getting out of the danger zone if the pillars to the east were already done their toppling, as it would allow for nothing to crush him so he could veer off sooner to attack-

In the next split second, he widened his eyes when he heard the whip cord whoosh through the air, not having time to make a sprint for it as his breath stolen from him. His upper-limbs slammed against his sides again and his knapsack and Yen Pins protested, wincing with a tiny cry escaping his lips before he was being thrown back into the mayhem by Sadist Saiyama. He barely had time to react again before he was released to spin and wobble, coughing feebly from the influx of dust dwelling in the air before his body fell over a rock without warning, landing clumsily on his chest in a daze.

He grimaced as he laid sprawled on the ground, blinking almost every second, as his shrouded, watery vision was pretty much useless, and heard more breakages in the distance. His attempt to get himself back on his feet was foiled when he fell on his chest to lay on his stomach again, coughing downward and squinting as his nails scrabbled with the debris. The Harrier was aware of how much his chest hurt, but he ignored it as he blindly let his hands search for now for something solid to help him as his crutch.

In the distance, he felt how the sadist was motionless, probably unaware of the Harrier's survival of the pillar timbering. The very idea made the Harrier feel more urgency to seize the opportunity, as that could be a useful smokescreen to get himself out of the area before his whereabouts were made known again. This was a blessing and a curse for the both of them; the Harrier knew it left the sadist open for a surprise attack if the dust had spread enough to shield the Harrier's movements, and that made the revelation all the more important to put into use as the Harrier's gift in this case. ...Even if the Harrier couldn't see for now.

With his new resolve, he forgone his hands' search, ignoring how floured they were with cement residue as he pushed himself up painstakingly slow. He was unsteady for a moment before he pivoted right, starting to tread carefully forward. He controlled his breathing to take in the minimal amount he needed, fighting off the urge to cough as he dragged his feet around hidden obstacles, before he forced himself to begrudgingly stop.

'I might end up bumping into him at this rate, even if my heightened reflexes help my depth perception...' he thought in frustration before turning back to his left to trudge. He gritted his teeth, feeling a spike of anger in him as he curled his slightly throbbing hands. 'That was a planned assault... but the sadist misjudged the timing immensely. If he had held me in place instead of pretending to let me flee the rockfall, he would have gotten me. But he hadn't... which begs the question of why.'

Still keeping his eyes squinted as he started to smell less dust, his watered eyes rapidly tried blinking again when he finally entered the debris-free portion of the intersection. It was as if it was left alone for him, to solely gasp for cleaner air on unblemished pavement before abruptly coughing to raggedly gasp in again. His last blink only came when his vision was mostly clear.

One glance around the area gave him enough answers, and the Harrier let his eyes carefully pick apart each and every ugly injury the road had sustained. Like before, the intersection had been tortured, but the added piles of shards of cement and rocks almost made the Harrier purse his lips, noting how much it looked as if an earthquake had just happened now. He wouldn't be surprised if the Realground denizens mistook it as simply as that, as he spotted some cars phasing through the rubble while the population of people in question were cowardly milling about outside the impacted district...

But his worry about the civilians themselves was put on hold as the reality of what this meant set in.

While the sadist claimed he didn't want to fight... only to viciously spring an avalanche of cement into motion that failed to Erase the Harrier... the former held true. This was a set-up; an elaborate scheme meant for the Harrier. By logic, how could the Harrier continue fighting if he had nothing to fight on? If the Harrier didn't want to stop... the sadist was going to make him stop... by forfeiting. Limiting the Harrier's options to none but to forfeit... because the sadist meant to gain the upper-hand to make it impossible to keep fighting.

There was no way the Harrier was going to let that continue.

The Harrier's blood boiled as he silently flashed a look of aggravation towards the stationed ex-army man, balling up his hands more as he gritted his teeth again. "I see how it is," he scoffed darkly, wrinkling his nose as he shifted his head sideways a little. "Smothering me so you can be free to chat..." He narrowed his eyes to slits and growled, "Because you think you're done playing around..."

From what the Harrier could see, the sadist was staring into the fog of dust before the Harrier had spoken then the sadist's head jerked. He turned it to the younger Reaper and lowered the whip, letting it hover close to his side as he shuffled to fully-face the black-hooded Reaper now. "Would you look at that, you got out of there," the old man rumbled with an odd placement of contentedness in his tone, causing the Harrier to bristle. "Good job."

Tensing at those words, the Harrier was glad his grimace was hidden by his hood as an inappropriate sense of pride came to him. Immediately, he tried to suffocate the feeling to instead focus on how much those words actually made him angry as he spat bitterly, "Shut up!" As he inhaled, he was unfortunate to have a cough attack him, shoving his elbow against his face to sputter into it. He hated how the sadist was a witness to this as he soon cleared his throat, half a moment later sniffing coolly, "So you think you're done, huh."

Sadist Saiyama's murky gaze simply adopted a faint glint as one end of his lips quirked. "Having second thoughts?"

"For your information, I'm breaking a sweat without sacrificing my stamina. I know how to pace myself, even if you hadn't tried to bury me alive," he sneered as he started stalking while keeping his eyes on the other man, a trice later muttering under his breath, "...or whatever alternative it is for us in that case, ugh." Drifting back and forth in a quarter-circle around the sadist with his stiff pacing, whilst unclenching and curling his hands, he huffed when he hissed coldly, "The point is- while you're fucking fine with your half-assed performance, I'm nowhere close to being finished with you..."

"Feh, you really think fighting me will do you favours then," grunted Sadist Saiyama gruffly as he readjusted his footing, the Harrier halting to crabbily regard the other as the man breathed out heftily, "I get that you're angry, and you're getting it out of your system... but that doesn't have to mean you need to push yourself past your breaking point. We can stop now before you make things worse for yourself."

"I'm not the one doing that!" snapped the Harrier venomously as he bristled, breathing unsteadily before he growled sharply, "You are!"

Sadist Saiyama sighed, "When you light a fire, it burns." His gaze half-closed as he shook his head. "But as long as you keep finding materials to burn it with, puffing on it... there'll be no end." His whip-wielding arm rose as he frowned grimly, soon setting the whip and his arm across his chest to rest nearby his opposite shoulder then murmured grittily, "If you would just see that I'm willing to let this slide, maybe-"

"Why would you let it slide when you won't leave me alone!?" retorted the Harrier tartly as he promptly crouched. "You never fucking leave me alone- How many more times do I need to repeat myself!?"

With a huff, the sadist's expression remained the same. "Then why don't you leave me alone?"

Right away, the Harrier clenched his teeth together as he released a growl from his throat. "Are you fucking dense!?" he shouted out in frustration and threw his arms up. "I've been doing that all this time!"

The sadist's face hardened as he hmphed, his nose scrunching up as he grumbled, "Then you're doing a shit job at it, boy."

As the Harrier released a sputtered scoff of exasperation, he started to tremble uncontrollably as he yelled out, "When will you see that this is all your fault, asshole!?"

At once, the sadist's expression turned horrendously dour... all except for his eyes, to be exact. They were the only feature on his face that reflected an unreadable emotion; maybe the same kind that he'd given the Harrier in their conversation after the Harrier was confined to the Barracks...

But whatever it was, it made the Harrier even more furious.

"You're not going to stop ruining my existence unless I beat it into you!" he spat irately as he reared a hand then sprinted in, only to duck upon arrival from a late punch from the ever-slow, maybe even previously distracted sadist. "If you won't listen to me-" The Harrier then twisted on the spot, having a split second to spot how the sadist was pulling his whip outward. "Maybe you will if I make you understand the pain you make me go through!" he roared bitterly as he kicked a leg up, smashing his toes straight into the sadist's elbow.

The sadist only reacted with a grimace as his arm uselessly swung to his side, dropping his whip from his slack hand immediately. The behemoth turned his great head, as the Harrier stumbled upon touching the ground with his throbbing foot, before growling gruffly, "You're only hurting yourself."

"Shut up!" snapped the Harrier before lunging to strike the sadist in the face, only to fail when the Harrier's hand was caught by the sadist's working one. "Let go of me!" he bit back.

"This amounts to nothing, boy!" hissed the sadist before he set his now darkened gaze on the Harrier, who was struggling to rip his arm away. He tried clawing at the meaty left hand when it didn't relinquish its hold as the sadist growled on, "You're not going to Erase me, and I'm not going to Erase you."

As the Harrier tried harder to free his hand, he soon resigned himself to the fact that he couldn't escape. He knew he used up all of his counters for Shadow's Play, and Shinin' Spotlight would only provide minimal coverage for him because the sadist had no reason to let go of the Harrier now. Thus, the Harrier wouldn't be able to squeeze his way out of this, so he cursed how the sadist had to stay in one spot throughout the fight and not-

His eyes widened and a small smile came to his lips.

"I'm not planning on Erasing you!" retorted the Harrier harshly before swinging his left arm at the sadist. "I just want you to stop-" He grabbed unsteadily ahold of the khaki front of the sadist's uniform, pushing as much power as he could into his Ignis Swarm. "- following me!"

As the sadist flinched, starting to release the younger Reaper's right hand as fireflies escaped from under the Harrier's other curled grasp, the Harrier shot more from his freed hand as he sobbed out with vexation, "You have no reason to because you don't know me… You don't know how fucked up it is that you're trying to screw with me- and use me as if-"

"What are you doing!?" demanded the sadist as fireflies surrounded them. The man started shifting on the spot as heat already started to seep through the Harrier's Reaper garments, viciously nipping the younger's skin while he stayed where he was. "Are you seriously-" Murky-green eyes widened before he reached for the Harrier with his left hand. "Don't tell me you've gone mad!?"

"You're not going to move so I'm taking the fight to you," growled the Harrier with a little ugly laugh after the sadist grabbed him by the shoulder. He smiled viciously as he yelled out, "If you think pebbles are going to stop me... then at least I have my literal fireflies to do their thing!"

"Don't be so stupid!" yelled Sadist Saiyama furiously but his face flashed with appall; his hand tightly squeezed the Harrier's shoulder. "Cancel your Psyche before-"

"Better than waiting around for months for it to happen…" He lowered his head and closed his eyes, pushing more into his Psyche as he dropped his smile. "I'm not getting through to you, so I'll just do the deed now."

"You're not thinking straight- Don't fucking do this!" The sadist stopped to let out an intense growl in his throat before, without warning, he yanked the Harrier towards him.

The Harrier had no time to react as the sadist threw his still working arm around the knapsack, curled his hand around back of the younger Reaper's right arm and leaned his large body over the Harrier in one fell swoop as the first firefly blew up. "Stay fucking still- gawh!"

Suddenly, it was a barrage of noise, blaring through his ears. His eyes widened, paralyzed as his ears started to ring and the weight from the other Reaper made his mind go blank. 'Why's he…'

He was aware of the sadist falling to the ground with him, as the heat of his explosions dusted him while the sadist was seemingly taking all of them for the Harrier. He parted his lips to yell for the man to get off of him and tried to reanimate himself to wiggle out of the man's hold, only for the Harrier to discover he was being weighed down. It left him feeling powerless that couldn't move, forced to wait it out for Ignis Swarm to finish because the attack went completely wrong because of the fool until thick, black smoke settled around them.

Even when the threat was over, it took a while until he heard the sadist faintly give a grunt of pain.

"I told you…" mumbled out the sadist; his gravelly voice nearby the Harrier's hooded neck. "I can take as many hits as you need to use on me… but don't waste them on yourself."

"Why…!?" gasped out the Harrier numbly as his obscured vision made him start to lock up. His mind started to ring with the fact that it was getting hotter, as the heat was closing in around him and being restrained wasn't helping to ward off how much…

He inhaled and instantly tried to thrash when smoke flooded his nose. He gasped more and more as he let out a fearful wail, "Let me out!" He shallowly breathed before crying out, punctured by his harsh coughs, "K-Kage, let me out!"

"No."

"Why are you doing this!?" he sobbed as he couldn't move. "Kage!" He tried swallowing in air, yet it failed to reach his lungs. It left him stuttering on it as he tried harder, but not succeeding in feeding himself the oxygen he desperately needed. "O-Open it…" he gasped out dizzily. "Open the hood- I-I'm going to die!"

Kage was silent before he spoke faintly, "...It'll be over soon."

"You want me to die!?" cried the young man in horror. "I knew you were a sick bas-"

"Breathe."

The young… Reaper did. He blinked as he screwed his expression up in confusion before he tried again, only to smell recesses of smoke.

"G-Good… j-job…" the sadist grunted with effort as his left hand released its hold, the sadist's arm slid out from under the Harrier. "Ngh..." He drew his body back, allowing for the Harrier Reaper to view him finally again as a grim, wary look was set on his face. "Are you okay?"

The Harrier flinched violently from where he lay, widening his eyes before he threw a dirty look up at the old man. "Why you-"

Just before the Harrier could lunge for the sadist, who was starting to pull away to sit down, he gasped before grimacing and immediately grasped for his chest. He gritted his teeth, tilting his head towards it as he clenched his eyes closed then breathed shallowly at the tightness his chest had. Within a matter of moments, he was choking on his breath again when realized it was the pain from earlier.

Gasping out, only to lightheadedly watch his vision sway while on the crusty road, the awareness of the pain consumed his attention. He hated how it had increased unfold since then, while he helplessly tightened his hold on his hoodie, feeling it start to...

"Are you okay?" His eyes shot open; the sadist was leaning over the Harrier. He tried squirming away even though the agony was threatening to keep him pinned down, gasping and releasing his hand as he started to drag his body and rub his knapsack across the cement. "Are you okay!?" repeated the sadist, but with more intensity as he instantly frowned deeply. His eyes flashed alarmingly just as the Harrier halted as a sharper pain struck through him, crying out weakly as the sadist bellowed out, "That's it- you need to see a Healer Reaper! Heck, who am I kidding? Oshiro needs to-"

Getting up at once, staggering backwards but pretended it was because of the unsteady terrain, the Harrier closed his eyes halfway and wheezed in a cough, "I-I'm not g-going back…"

"Wh-What!?" The sadist shook his head befuddled before his face twisted with frustration. "You're in pain! You need aid- can't you see that!?"

"I-I'm not g-going back!" spat the Harrier with as much as he could muster of confident anger before stepping back warily. "F-For your information, stay out of other people's businesses when it doesn't concern you! My body is my body, and my body has been in so much stress it's no wonder it's freaking out!" He stiffly shook his head twice. "Th-This is normal!"

"Then explain why you obviously can't stand it!" barked the sadist coldly, frowning angrily as he snarled, "Don't be an idiot!"

"If I'm an idiot, you're a saint," said the Harrier above an aloof whisper, narrowing his eyes. For whatever reason, the pain was thankfully dying down as he continued, "You should worry about yourself, Sadist Saiyama. Isn't that what sadists do?" He disinterestedly tilted his head. "Hurt people for the fuck of it? No gain, no loss?"

As the Harrier started to regain his usual breathing, his chest starting to grow less taut, the sadist gritted his teeth. He lowered his gaze, pausing for a bit before exhaling. "...It's okay."

"Oh, so it's okay to hurt people?" Resting his hand over his heart, the Harrier coldly smiled as he chuckled lightly, "Well then, I suppose-"

"It's okay if you're hurting inside," said the sadist as his head raised, his eyes firm as he was getting out of sitting with a groan. The Harrier frowned immediately, warily watching as the sadist gave a breathful chuckle, "It's okay if you're conflicted about how you feel… There's nothing wrong with it, it's why we were born human. But-" He shook his head before continuing, "Believe me. If you think this is the bottom of the barrel…" His eyes glinted. "You should take time to think about how you truly feel about what's eating you."

The Harrier frowned, staring at the sadist uneasily as the older Reaper drew himself up and walked closer. At first, the Harrier wanted to step away, yet he found the old man was in front of him within moments of his hesitation to move. "Talk to me," said the larger Harrier in a simple tone. "Or not talk to me. It's your choice." Widening his eyes, the Harrier gawked at the man anxiously as the sadist inhaled, waving his glowing left hand over his slack arm before shrugging without a care when the earthy-brown light faded away. "I doubt you would consider it, but if I were you... " He groaned out while rolling his shoulders. "Gnnahh... pretending the world is out to get you is the worst way to live your existence.

"You're not the first to have a bad Day," continued the sadist undeterred. The younger Harrier gradually became more and more tense and nervous the longer the old man stood in front of the younger Reaper, the sadist's eyes never leaving the Harrier as his expression grew solemn. "And from all the hell you've given Oshiro and the rest of us… you should be doing shit, not glorifying Erasure. That's the last thing you would be doing right now."

The Harrier's gaze slowly narrowed as his heart grew slightly less painful. "You're mental…" He shook his head, stepping back nervously as he frowned with aloof anger, growling out dangerously low, "Thinking you can bulldoze over what is important and what isn't important to me… Thinking you can make things better by diminishing the worth of what's happened to me... " His face contorted when he hissed out, "I don't listen to fools… I don't listen to them when they think they know better than me- I don't listen to them because the fact remains they are sprouting nonsense to the wrong person...!"

Straightaway, the sadist's expression grew pained, closing his eyes as he all but gave a crestfallen sigh, "Has it ever occurred to you… you shouldn't let your trust issues ruin what little you have for yourself?"

"I had little," said the Harrier immediately, shocking himself at how quick he was to respond. He wrinkled his nose with spite towards himself that he had just, in fact, done that, then growled out ill-temperedly with a huff, "Took you long enough to notice."

The sadist adopted a calmer mannerism when he simply blinked. "What? You think you have nothing?"

"Ugh, you're not a therapist..." groaned the Harrier as he rolled his eyes and stared off to the side, pursing his lips with dissatisfaction that the old fool thought he could trick the Harrier into revealing the matter at hand. He grumpily half-closed his eyes, feeling his chest pulse irritably as he felt slightly self-conscious for no reason.

The Harrier hated how the sadist had gotten under his skin before a minute even passed, wondering how the man ever could have loosened his tongue as he sulked about the fact that his strong front was starting to slip. The Harrier didn't want to let himself be vulnerable right now; it was tactless and he's gotten this far without reverting back to the meek, pathetic coward who innocently assumed the world was starting to come around for his family...

"Seriously, you have a brain, Scamp," grumbled the sadist as he crossed his arms, snorting noisily before spitting in the opposite direction the Harrier was gazing absently to. "You have a friend- and it's not like your killing crusade was trashed because Erasure suddenly became appealing to you."

In a split moment, the Harrier's eyes blew wide and he froze completely. His breathing expired too fast, and his heart thumped and throbbed harder and painfuller, before he swung back to the sadist.

"You fucking... SHITHEAD!" he roared out before abruptly flinging himself at the larger-statured Reaper with an incoherent yell of rage.

The sadist had no time to react before the Harrier tackled into him, pitching them both down to the ground. The Harrier roughly pulled himself up to sit atop of the sadist's chest, huffing in and out raggedly as his glower grew watery as stray tears escaped his blazed eyes.

"How dare you mock what happened-!" he rawfully snarled all at once from his throat, glaring daggers right down at the face that stared back with shock. He sniffed hard and wetly as he clenched his teeth to the point he felt pressure between the top and bottom rows of them, tightly balling his hands even after the moment they ached horribly as he hoarsely screamed out, "It was all I had! ALL I FUCKING HAD!"

Before he knew it, the Harrier threw down a clout right at the sadist's face, which brutally was forced to veer in the other direction, and did the same to the other side without hesitation. His awareness of the sadist's expression was lost as it became fuzzy and blurry the longer he continued with each blow he swung- punctured by every sentence he screeched out, "No one cares about it! No one cared about it! Not even you! Not even the posh bastard! Not even the Composer!"

The Harrier could even forget his surroundings and what he did in his blind rage as he rawfully croaked out in his yells, "What am I supposed to do if that was the last thing I believed in anymore in this SHITHOLE!? Tell me to smarten up when anything I do is thwarted by the UNIVERSE! Answer your own damn question about who are the wrongdoers because you don't know the hell we're supposed to ignore- to leave Shibuya to its dirty, rotten, scumbag SINNERS!"

He suddenly choked on his next exhale, hiccuping as his reared hand fell slack on the sadist's stomach while the other hung at the Harrier's other side. "...I just wanted to help in the one way I th-thought I could…" he sobbed miserably, gritting his teeth harder as he sniffled sharply and wasn't sure how much liquid was gushing down his cheeks. He bitterly smiled as he laughed in his next sob, "I just wanted to stop the v-violence… the c-cruelty… the u-unforgivable p-plights s-so someone could rest easy without ending up in the sh-shithole… Is it t-too much to ask that I wanted l-less victims to come into the world…? Th-That there wouldn't be someone s-suffering when they didn't even d-deserve it...?" His voice cracked. "T-To not b-become someone like m-me…?"

The Harrier choked on another sob, shaking his head as he half-closed his eyes and hung his head. He trembled at each new ragged sob he gave, "Wh-Why couldn't I have died…? D-Did I not deserve to die…? D-Deserve to finally be at peace from all the sh-shit I was going through…? W-Was that why the Reaper P-Processed me…? B-Because they thought it was h-hilarious that the way I was going was t-too tame in comparison to wh-what I could be tortured with…? B-Because they wanted me to realize there's no end to the p-pain and m-misery for me…?"

Suddenly, he struggled to breathe, bringing his hands to his face before harshly sobbing into them and wailed wretchedly; a few pathetic whimpers escaping between his loud sobs and snivelling. His heart ached so much, yet it mattered so little to him as he coughed dryly and gasped in upset laughter. His mind faded into numbness as he couldn't care to stop breaking down now when there couldn't possibly be a reason to stop as he let himself surrender into his agony…

"I-I could have just died…" he gasped out in a small, whimpering voice. "I-I could have just died, and yet..." He felt his lower lip shake. "A-And y-yet…" He weakly chuckled hollowly, "I-I'm u-useless… w-worthless… n-nothing… th-the scum o-of all scums… th-the p-pathetic tumour… th-the asshole o-of assholes…" He smiled loosely as he sniffled wetly and quietly, "I-I'm just a nobody… s-so why am I h-here...?"

He felt so tired… he was so done with this… Why couldn't he just-

"Daybreak!"

A blinding brilliance immediately filled his gaze and he was pitched into the air.

Spinning uncontrollably sideways, he landed limp with a pathetic thud. But instead of getting up, the Harrier chose to lay on the road, blankly staring into the rubble of the pavement from his earlier fight as his ears rang horribly in deafness. He was aware of how his right side of his body was essentially on fire as white, almost numbing, excruciating pain overtook his thoughts, and he felt as if… The Harrier coughed, tasting a familiar nasty flavour spill out from his mouth as he realized he couldn't even register where his shoulder was on his body.

What he could register… was the fact that something was close to his neck.

The Harrier closed his eyes as the familiar presence of the posh bastard was standing over his body. Did he… did the posh bastard… attack him…? Was the man… going to Erase him…? His mind spun, dizzy and almost swaying even when he laid on the road, as he let himself resign to his fate. After so many spats with the man, he expected for it to have happened sooner… What took the man so long to finally do the deed...?

"...you gone far... around…"

The Harrier grimaced weakly, wondering what the heck that even meant as his eyes lethargically fluttered.

"...all wrong-"

"After all... why...I... let you...him. Stand down, or... consequences."

He feebly inhaled and heard a whistling sound at the back of his throat as he wheezed, feeling his awareness of his surroundings grow smaller and smaller as time went on… Why was the posh bastard hesitating...?

"Don't… him…through almost...iro…"

"...won't accept…"

The Harrier could have sworn… something was tugging at his ankles...

"...that's it! ...had it with… petty feud…"

A whisper came, "Don't struggle."

In the next moment, the conversation he hardly had a grasp on rapidly disappeared as he somehow knew he had sank into the ground. All it did was leave him dazed and ill to his stomach the moment he was flung into the air; his consciousness fading out quickly...

Almost Six Weeks After Death...

The fire raged on.

As the young Reaper faced the Conductor, he could practically feel the flames lick past his sleeves, yet he couldn't even feel the warmth. He searched the other man's expression for anything, only to find nothing when it didn't change from how stoic it was. He wanted to say something- anything- but his words escaped him as he kept the man in his slightly watery sight.

The Conductor's gaze merely reflected the reddish-orange that ate away at the building nearby. And when the midnight-blue hardened, they still hadn't taken a look at the hazard beside them. "I will not ask of the circumstances. Follow me."

As the man deftly turned, the Reaper did as he was told. He kept his head low as he walked, his heart heavy and his mind darting sparely as his numbness stretched from his heart.

Even as people raced out of their homes around them, embers sailing into the air… the Conductor and young Reaper set down the path quietly as the chaos went on from behind them. The further they got away, the more the Reaper felt his feet drift closer to his boss' side. He wasn't sure what to feel when the man merely didn't put distance between them, despite knowing what the other man probably felt already. And yet, the Reaper refused to think about what happened… not wanting to reflect on it when he'd rather listen to their footfalls and not the screams or the framework of the ablaze building straining horrendously...

"On record," said the Conductor, once they were far enough away. His voice was curt and his head remained forward, not regarding the Reaper shadowing his movements. "I believe it may be best if you remain in the Underground for the next Week."

"I-I understand, Sir," said the Reaper quietly as he dipped his head.

"Very good." The Conductor's cane may have struck the ground harder than it was supposed to, so the Reaper simply held his tongue, not wanting to speak out of turn. "While it may have been harrowing for you, expect that you should not bear the connections you once had. By that, I mean you should know by now that your decision to join our ranks has classified you as no longer a part of their world, as you are no longer connected to that Plane by way of being or your impression on it."

Nodding, the Reaper raised his head slightly as the Conductor added sternly, "And while it may seem heartless, it is better off accepting they do not know you any longer. The less contact you share, the easier it will become to adapt to the Plane you now belong to. If you cannot do that, you may as well be a restless spirit."

For a brief second, the Reaper found himself slowing to a halt. "I don't have a reason to maintain contact anymore, Sir."

In response, the Conductor stopped as well, staring forward nonverbally before he merely adjusted his hold on his cane. With a deft turn of his body and cane, his narrowed eyes gleamed warily at the Reaper. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, Sir." The Reaper squared his shoulders, inhaling while straightening his back and settling his wings. He didn't dare to tear his gaze away from the Conductor, in spite of how much as he wanted to from the intensity of the other man's gaze. "I am certain."

Within a few moments, the Conductor pivoted to face the direction they had been going, yet his head failed to remain forward this time as he sighed, "I do not understand what drove you to where you were standing today." His lips went flat. "However... that does not excuse what your intentions were."

The Reaper finally felt his face change, holding onto a small frown now. "My intentions…?"

"Yes. I believe I have not stuttered in any way or form, mind you." The Conductor's only visible eye drifted towards the Reaper. "Has it occurred to you, that chasing the past yields no payoff in terms of what we do in the Reapers' Game's line of work?"

He felt his shoulders- no, hackles rise.

"There is no admirability of letting little quandaries get the best of us," continued the Conductor calmly, maybe even sternly. The Reaper couldn't figure out which was which in this case, as the inflection of the man suggested either could be present. "After all, you had chosen to walk a new trail, casting off what you may have gotten in-"

"I don't need you to reiterate what I decided," cut in the Reaper indignantly, instantly feeling his wings fan out. After a tense moment shared between them, he ducked his head and mumbled uneasily, "S-Sorry… I-I mean no offence, Sir."

The Conductor's eye skirted away. "This is why I believe it would be best if you isolate yourself from the Realground for the time being. Not just for what has happened, but for your sake… To concentrate on yourself, be reminded of what your duties are-" The man's head turned to face forward. "And to know your place."

"...I-I understand, S-Sir," said the Reaper meekly, not lifting his gaze as he stared past his shaky knees at his shoes. "A-And th-thank you, Sir. F-For keeping m-my best interests i-in mind."

"You are welcome." The Conductor's head dipped briefly. "But let us not tarry, lest you believe we should remain a spectacle for the last few Pacts," sniffed the Conductor before starting to lead the way again; an unspoken command silencing the Reaper who had yet to follow after the finely-dressed man. He watched his boss walk down the path, having yet to relax or wipe off his frown as he cast one long look back in the direction of the dark smoke, billowing from the top of the terrace.

The longer he gazed at the flickering flames, the collapsed foundations, the panicking denizens… the harder it was to turn back to spot the posh man waiting for him. He had to force himself to jog over to catch up, as his thoughts remained on the house rather than the Conuctor's disappointment.

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

EeveeGen9988: I don't have much to say, but I think the Fun Facts I have for you all will speak for themselves. *sweatdrops sheepishly*

Fun Fact - When the story was in it's earliest stage on May 18th, 2019- the day before it became a story- the three Pins that were originally going to be MR Protagonist's Pins were known as Sputter Buzz, Pin-Prick and Cripple Check. Pin-Prick never made the cut after I wrote a test fight scene back in July 2019, but Ignis Swarm and Cripplecheck made it to MR Protagonist's arsenal after a quick revamp of what their Psyches were.

Fun Fact - The Pin designs of MR Protagonist's Psyches for the fight were established and finalized on October 2nd, 2019 (where I put them up on DeviantArt, if you wanted to see a visual representation of the Pins). Ignis Swarm and Cripplecheck's Psyches were created in July 2019 and Virtuoso, Alla Breve, Shinin' Spotlight and Shadow's Play's Psyches were created during late September to early October 2019. All of the Psyches were finalized in December 2019 when I started to finally write the fight scene.

Fun Fact - The MR Protagonist and Sadist Saiyama fight scene choreography entered its planning stage at the end of August 2019, but the scene had been written and finalized in December 2019 and January 2020. Part of the reason why it took so long to actually start writing it all depended upon certain events from Part 1, 2 and 3 that has led up to it, as the trigger to the fight could have been taken in multiple directions. However, one side-note I have is that one part of the battle was added at the last moment in the editing phase.

Fun Fact - The runner up trigger of the fight scene involved MR Protagonist being frustrated that his proposal was shot down right after it happened and he felt the need to take his anger out on Sadist Saiyama, for thinking he ensured that the proposal was refused, by challenging him to a fight. However, in that version, Sadist Saiyama didn't want to accept unless MR Protagonist promised he would give up on Recruitment if Sadist Saiyama won. So it was all about MR Protagonist having to fight hard to show Sadist Saiyama his worldview was worth fighting for, wanting to show Sadist Saiyama who is boss and that what he was fighting for was on the line and he couldn't bear to lose to Sadist Saiyama because of that.

Fun Fact - When I was writing the fight scene between MR Protagonist and Sadist Saiyama, I listened to Decisive Battle I from Octopath Traveler and Cynthia's battle theme from Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. So when I went through editing of the battle scene, sometimes I heard segments of those songs bleed into my head during certain portions of the fight, so I thought that was cool. =3

Fun Fact - For the battle, I forgot MR Protag had his knapsack on him! So... *cringes* I had to touch up on certain aspects of the battle to incorporate the knapsack, because MR Protag wouldn't just throw his knapsack to the side to fight Sadist Saiyama and risk having wandering Reapers take it after MR Protag lost it the first time. XD

Fun Fact - While the majority of the Fun Facts are for the battle, which is a lot (I'm sorry about that) and doesn't necessarily mean the battle was the most important part of the chapter... the scene that required the most attention to detail was Scene 5 (MR Protag and the sadist's private conversation scene) which was the one that caused me the most grief. *laughs in her misery of having to edit it*

Fun Fact - Seeing as the 104 Building (or 109 in real life) was built in 1979, and the story takes place in 1975... the district couldn't be named the 104 Building district in the story. I tried looking online to see if there was a name that it had before the building was created, but I had no such luck... *hangs head* In order to remedy that, I did some more digging online and decided to come up with a name for the district for the story. What I came up with, as you had probably scratched your head at in the chapter, was Circle Link, or in Japanese, it would be known as Sākururinku or サークルリンク. (I apologize if I got the name wrong or/and if I did miss what it was actually called back then.) D=

The reason why I chose that name is that in the game, 104 Building serves a small district which serves as a bridge to the Dogenzaka and Shibukyu Department Store districts when you enter it from the Scramble Crossing, as well as how it houses shops for Players to get items from 104 itself. Since the 104 Building doesn't exist yet at the time, to me the area in this story would only serve as a passage way to Dogenzaka and Shibukyu Department Store, so in a way, it's like a mini street that lets you do that. From what I saw from the name of 109, it had the word "maru" in it, which means circle (but usually is a word that's attached to Japanese ships), so I thought I'd expand upon that and eventually came to the word "sākuru". And because it's a street that allows you to walk either way to eventually come back in a full circle when you leave it to get back to the Scramble Crossing, you may call it a literal link to those two districts, which is where I got the word "rinku" from. Thus, that is why I called it Circle Link to try to be in tune with the names of TWEWY's districts. *sweatdrops and hopes that makes sense*

Fun Fact - For the chosen title of the chapter, this one this time around was particularly challenging to nail down. For starters, the other potential candidates I ended up not using were Mr Trailblazer, Pathfinder, Standee, Scrapper, Slacker, Stray, Spitfire, or Sufferer. The reason why I didn't go with them was because they focused on a certain aspect, but didn't properly reflect the other aspects I was hoping to delve into this time around. As such, that's how I arrived at the name Mr Subject. For the word 'subject', there are multiple meanings for it, but some of the meanings work with the theme(s) of the chapter quite well. ;D

Also, by braving Part 4's read, and optional read of Fun Facts, you have unlocked more post-chapter content. *throws confetti in the air* =D

PREVIOUS LETTER THREAD CONTENT [SUCCESSFULLY] RETRIEVED

DATE_OF_CREATION = 06/07/22/PM/SUN/18/MAY/1975

THREAD_TYPE = [PRIVATE]=[HM to KF]

LOG_NAME = MsCFHL

ENTRY_NO = 48159077

DOCUMENT_ALIAS = Maeda's Cry For Help Logs - Entry 48159077

INCOMING RESPONSE [SUCCESSFULLY] RETRIEVED

DATE_OF_RETRIEVAL = 6/50/35/PM/FRI/30/MAY/1975

Response #1HM to Response #1KF to Maeda's Cry For Help Logs - Entry #48159077
RESPONSE CONTENT IS AS FOLLOWS

Dear, Ms. Fukuhashi,

I wanted to just check in with you about the Secret Document I sent you over a Week ago, since it's been quite some time since we've last spoken. I was a little worried about if it got sent right, or if what I wrote was enough. I'm actually feeling good about what I wrote, but I can't help but be paranoid I did something wrong.

In other news, remember what I said about something not feeling right? Or me thinking something didn't feel right? Well, the thing is... I don't actually know how to use the Leylines! I know it's pretty bad that I'm only bringing this up now, but I didn't want you thinking I was getting too ahead of myself again and contacting you before you received my report, so I just wanted to wait it out until you (hopefully) got my report before I make a doozy before you did. But that's not just it, um, I actually have something that also doesn't feel right that's different than what I talked about before!

You see, I don't know if you know about this, or watch Shibuya even when it's my thing or anything- but did you know there's been a lot of murders going around? I, uh... don't know what's going on, but is seventy people dying a good thing? Or is it not what we're supposed to be looking at? Because... I just wanted to check if this was a normal thing for that many to die in a Week! I mean, as of last Tuesday, that's how many people had died before the Reapers' Game's Day Seven. I've never understood why they operate the Game from Wednesdays to Tuesdays, but within those Days... people are just dying and I don't think this is normal! I know I said I wanted to talk about the safety of you getting my report, but I just feel faint at the thought that murders are happening so frequently all of a sudden!

And you know what? Come to think of it... I feel like I'm forgetting something. You know what? I think something might not be right because I could have sworn the other Day I heard something on the radio talking about this, but other than that I feel like this reminds me of something. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I could have sworn someone mentioned something like this but not like this happening? I dunno, but could you pretty please shed some light? I would be very grateful and I just want to make sure my nerves are not going haywire again over this!

Wishing you well up there,
- Hiraku Maeda

Response #2KF to Response #1HM to Response #1KF to Maeda's Cry For Help Logs - Entry #48159077
RESPONSE CONTENT IS AS FOLLOWS

Dear, Mr. Maeda,

Do not fret, your report came in and I was in the middle of reviewing it when your message arrived. My only criticism is that your grammar is abysmal, but that is a personal peeve of mine, as well as the fact that your report came in a format that likewise is jarring on the eyes to read. Other than that, I believe your report is sufficient. However, your comment about a followup report for missing content is nothing but concerning. Before you send in your next report, please do not rush to send it in if you believe not all is intact. As much as I prompted you for speed, you must not choose it over quality.

On this subject matter, I suggest you heed this, as a report that is dedicated to Arts and Psyches is an exceptionally significant topic that should not be disregarded. I believe the Master would be pleased if you figure out more about Arts that have sprung up during your term, as knowing the techniques that the Composer's Reapers are using would help to dissuade potential suspicion that the Composer is planning anything amiss. However, I only use that as an example, as the Composer has had no reason to turn against our relations as of the moment, and I believe our terms have not been breeched in any way or form. Do not take to heart that I am implying the Composer is to be distrusted, I do not want you misinterpreting the meaning I have painted for you.

I understand that my advice may have been unwise to give when you had no way of turning to me for guidance on the matter for using Leylines, and for that, forgive my naivety for not providing further information. Leylines are, as you mentioned in your last report, the veins of Shibuya. I couldn't be more pleased with your astute application of your understanding from that form of explanation. To a normal Lower Ground denizen's eye, one cannot see the Leylines as easily as we may. The Composer's ability to see them is because of our gifting to allow for the Composer to see them as we can, as the Composer maintains Shibuya by their will and intertwined connection to the settlement itself. I believe the Composer created a single place where one who cannot see the Leylines can when they enter the very source, the heart of the Shibuya River, from my understanding. Do not wander into the Composer's bode, Maeda.

In order to use the Leylines, simply search the streets during the times when no eyes will observe you, Up-tune your Frequency to your Angel status, and you shall find them. However, do not linger in your form, the Composer will know of your presence if you give the Composer ample time to locate you. By using the Leylines, you run the risk of letting a fragment of your being enter the stream of Shibuya and the Composer will know of your disruption. I have no inkling how the Composer will react to an Angel tampering with Shibuya's Leylines, but know that you cannot be careless with this.

As for your concerns, your natural ability of sensing unrest has done you no favours for your self-esteem. As an Angel, it is not your duty to focus on how many people die in a Week. I cannot stress this enough you are not responsible for observing Shibuya's mortality rate, you are to observe the Reapers' Game and the Underground.

You will check the Leylines, settle your unease then go back to watching over the Lower Grounds, maintain the dwelling Rule Masters have used for decades and complete your reports. That is all that I will ask of you. Know that your duties are not complex and worrying about unimportant matters such as deaths is not part of them.

Heed my words,
- Kotone Fukuhashi

Response #2HM to Response #2KF to Response #1HM to Response #1KF to Maeda's Cry For Help Logs - Entry #48159077
RESPONSE CONTENT IS AS FOLLOWS

Dear, Ms. Fukuhashi,

Thank you for letting me know it arrived. I don't know what you were talking about formatting, but it looked normal when I sent it in. Sorry about my grammar, I never was good at doing school stuff, but I will try harder next time?

I've never met the Composer, so I hope He's a nice guy. I don't think I'd last a minute with Him, or even talk to Him with a letter! That takes a lot of guts to just go up and talk to someone as important as the Composer, so I'll steer clear of Composery-looking people then!

Got it. I don't know how I'll use Leylines, but I'll try to figure it out when I see one! Thank you for letting me know how to find them!

I understand, Fukuhashi, but those people died out of the blue! Something just doesn't feel right because I think they were murdered! Murdered, I tell you! I don't think something's right, Fukuhashi!

Hoping you're right,
- Hiraku Maeda