Yoshiya did not often discriminate. However, he did hold Sundays with a sort of apathy he only showed towards individuals who wasted his very valuable time. It wasn't as if there was anything wrong with Sundays, or even this particular one. In fact, this Sunday was a very beautiful day, with one or two fat puffs of cottony clouds in the endless blue sky. This was the Sunday, the Sunday that would end all Sundays.

Okay, maybe not. But, it was a beautiful morning, and Yoshiya had absolutely nothing to do.

He sighed as he pushed his way past the typical Shibuya weekend crowds. Flashes of conversations surrounded him but he ignored them with the sort of ease that can only come from practice. It was all... mundane. Yes, that was the word. Mundane.

Yoshiya did not like being bored. That was the main reason he went to the Slam Off at Molco the other week. He did enjoy Tin Pin Slammer, but he did not often feel the need to enter pointless tournaments. Admittedly, once he heard that Megumi was entering, he was hard-pressed not to enter himself. Still, the point still stands: Boredom drove Yoshiya Kiryuu to do desperate things.

As he made his way to Scramble Crossing, he noted that it was unusually quiet (but in Shibuya, that was not saying much) for the time of day. That was probably the only reason he heard the cry of, "Hey! Pink! Over here!"

Yoshiya immediately recognized the voice. How could he not, after all they had endured just last week? The Kindred Spirits were not easy people to forget, their leader even less so.

Well. A meeting with Red would prove to be interesting, Yoshiya mused. He smiled, course of action already decided, and turned to face the fifth grader.

"What's the rush, Red? Is the world ending or something?"

"Yes!" Red replied, in all earnestness. "That's why you gotta find Blue and meet up with the rest of us in our secret base! Dr. Pin is gonna explain it all later!"

Yoshiya blinked. That was new. The smile briefly slipped from his face, but he quickly propped it back up.

"Give me ten minutes," he said.

Neku did not like being left out of the loop. In fact, he absolutely loathed it. However, he could usually count on somebody to explain it all to him sooner or later. That's what made life sweet: there were people that he could trust and depend upon.

He did not like being dragged by Pink back to the ramen shop in Dogenzaka. He did not like the fact that Pink did not know what was happening either. He liked the fact that Red was the one holding all the cards even less.

Neku liked life. He really did. It was just some of the people in life that brought his inner emo side closer to the surface.

Case in point: Pink.

"We're here!" the silver-haired boy announced, pushing open the door. Even before walking in, the scent of ramen was strong enough to assault his nose. A little bell jangled somewhere above their heads and the owner grinned widely. "Irasshai! Welcome!"

"That was eleven minutes!" Red shouted accusingly, pointing at Pink. He merely held his hands up in a pacifying gesture.

"My mistake. It seems Blue here ran into a spot of trouble with his mom about having naps in the middle of Scramble Crossing." He giggled. Internally, Neku winced. He had forgotten how much he hated that giggle.

"Never mind that!" Red declared. "Dr. Pin Sr.! You gotta tell everyone what's going on!"

Dr. Pin Sr. nodded sagely. It was about then that Neku realized that he recognized the other occupants crammed into the strange shop. Yellow was there, munching on some noodles. No doubt, it was curry ramen. He yelled a greeting around a mouthful of food and got back to eating. Green was there too; she waved at him and smiled.

Mr. Higashizawa was seated on his own in one of the booths. He tended to take up quite a lot of space; he shuffled uncomfortably as he mumbled a greeting, and banged his knee on the edge of the table. His glaringly offensive goat-head buckle was still there.

And last but not least...

Neku cringed as the megaphone blared, "Quiet all you hectopascals! You yoctograms better listen close, you got it?"

"Calm down, son," Dr. Pin. Sr. said. "This is a small shop; no need to shout."

Dr. Pin scowled and reluctantly put down his megaphone on the table he was standing beside. "Fine." He pouted, and stamped off to a far corner to sulk.

"So, what was this business about the end of the world?" Pink asks, still smiling, unflappable as ever. "Red was hysterical about it earlier."

"I was not!" Red shouted defensively, at the same time that Green gasped and said, "End of the world?"

Dr. Pin Sr. coughed. "Well, um, yes."

"Yo, what you mean 'end of the world'?" Yellow asked, pausing momentarily in his ravenous eating.

Mr. Higashizawa cleared his throat and stood up. The table shook, and he muttered a curse under his breath as he banged his bruised knee once again.

"There's a great evil rising," he began, "and you may find this surprising-"

"Yodai," Dr. Pin Sr. cut in. "No need for unnecessary rhyming."

The larger man coughed embarrassedly and sat back down. "Yes. Got that. No rhyming and exposition."

"The exposition part is fine," Pink said amiably.

Before Mr. Higashizawa could stand up again and continue, Dr. Pin Sr., perhaps taking pity on the man's poor abused knee, said, "This is a long story. There's a lot of history that you guys don't know yet, so we should start with that."

"Go on," Pink urged.

"First of all, you probably don't know this, but Tin Pin Slammer used to be a religious custom in ancient Croatia."

"Really?" Yellow, Green, Red, and Mr. Higashizawa chorused.

Dr. Pin Sr. fixed them all with a deadpan stare. "No. Who in their right mind would make a game based on some ritual from thousands of years ago?"

Everyone visibly deflated.

"Anyway, as I was saying, there is a great evil rising." Ignoring Mr. Higashizawa's protests he continued, "His true name is lost, but he is called the Composer."

Neku snorted. "What kind of name is that?"

"It may seem childish, but he is a very powerful enemy. The legends state that he could destroy the world with just one word. Tin Pin Slammer was created by sealing the spirits of many different monsters into stones, and then using the power of the monsters to imprison the Composer within a human body and weaken his powers."

"Let me guess," Pink interrupted, easily shaking of the glowing red eyes of doom from Dr. Pin Sr.. "'And now the power of the monsters have escaped and the Composer is almost free from his prison, and we have to get the monsters back in the stones to save the world.' Am I close?" His wide smile was just a little bit too sly.

Dr. Pin Sr. cleared his throat. "Yes," he admitted. "You're good, kid."

"I try," Pink said cheerfully. "So, when do we start?"

"You'll have to use your pins to fight these monsters," Dr. Pin Sr. said confidently. "After you beat them, then you can absorb their spirits into the pins."

"Tha's cool," Yellow began. "But how we gonna kill 'em if we can't find 'em?"

"I agree," Green said. "It's not like we can find any monsters here, right? I mean, even if monsters existed anyway."

Dr. Pin Sr. harrumphed. "Of course the monsters exist. How else do you think you can play Tin Pin?"

That comment left everyone in silence.

It was true, wasn't it? Tin Pin was a... really freaky game, when he took the time to think about it. There wasn't couldn't be any way that Tin Pin could normally be played, with all the spikes and the rockets and hammers. Up until now he hadn't actually thought about it but now that Dr. Pin Sr. had said something, it seemed so ludicrous that Tin Pin just couldn't be real.

"How-" Red said, but he cut himself off. His eyes seemed to widen in realization.

"Well?" Dr. Pin Sr. demanded. "You look like you've figured it out, boy. What is it, then?"

"It's the monsters!" Red exclaimed, adjusting his bandana. "The monsters are the ones that make the pins do all those freaky things."

"You got it," Dr. Pin Sr. said. He looked as if he was about to continue, but Mr. Higashizawa cut in. Evidently, he was tired of being pushed to the side.

"The original monsters were sealed in the stones. They had many different powers, such as the power of illusions. Those monsters were powerful enough to extend their powers through the stones. When the pins were made from the stones a long time ago, the power of the monsters carried over to the pins. Now, they're spread among all of the pins. It makes you not realize how the pins are acting."

Neku resisted the urge to just call it all crap and storm out. He couldn't just ignore it (and succumb to his inner emo), not when he finally realized how impossible Tin Pin Slammer was. It was still a warm weekend morning outside, but the inside of the shop seemed to be growing dimmer and colder.

It must have been his imagination.

"You really don't believe that, do you?" Neku asked. "It's just a joke, right?" One last time, just to be sure.

"It's real, all right," Dr. Pin Sr. said, glaring lightly at Mr. Higashizawa for being interrupted in his explanation. "The world's going to end soon, and you have to get the souls of these monsters into your pins."

"How do we do that?" Green exclaimed.

"Like I said, you have to fight them. That's the only way to get their souls into your pins." Dr. Pin Sr. looked at them gravely. "When you get into battle, you'll know how it's done. You're all masters of Tin Pin; the fighting should come naturally."

"This is all well and good," Pink interrupted, flipping some hair over his shoulder. "-But where are we going to find the monsters? It's not like we can just waltz out and expect to see a hideous creature there."

This time, Dr. Pin muttered something under his breath and pointed out the window, very pointedly not glancing at Dr. Pin Sr. Everyone turned to look.

Neku's eyes bugged out of his head. "No way! That's just- How could that-"

"I wonder," Pink said, slowly, deliberately, "why nobody else is reacting."

Indeed. Though the large red tattooed frog quickly hopped through the crowd of people, nobody turned around to stare. A golden bracelet on one of the front arms shone like a star, the exact same shade as its eyes. Its throat bulged out, like it was about to spit something out, but it just kept on hopping closer.

Green rubbed her eyes, blinked, and looked back up. "I'm not seeing things? It's not just me?"

"If you're seein' a big as hell frog out there, then I'm seein' it too," Yellow said, curry ramen entirely forgotten. He blinked quickly, and looked around the shop as if he expected another frog to spontaneously appear inside. Neku followed his lead.

Dr. Pin was still in his sulky corner, but he was looking out the window, as flabbergasted as the rest of them. Dr. Pin Sr., by contrast, looked smug. Mr. Higashizawa's expression was one that Neku couldn't quite place, but maybe was a mix of wonder, fear, and resignation.

"Well?" Dr. Pin Sr. asked. "What are you kids waiting for? You all have a destiny, remember?"

Everyone's attention snapped to him. He raised an eyebrow, and motioned to the door. "You'll do fine. I think two of you should go first."

Red finally appeared to snap out of his mesmerized state. "I'll do it!" he said eagerly, putting his hand up in the air as if this were a classroom. "Blue, you go with me!"

Neku gave him a shocked stare. "Why me?"

"You're closest to the door," Red said quickly, gathering up his pins. "Now, come on! If we don't, then the world's going to be destroyed." With his free hand, he pulled Neku alongside him as he raced to the door.

"Hey! Let go of me, squirt!" Neku tried to twist out of the fifth grader's grip, but Red had a surprising amount of strength packed into that frame. 'Or maybe I'm just too scrawny,' Neku thought. 'Should have listened to Mom and ate more meat.'

Red pushed the door open triumphantly, almost banging it into the nose of a passerby. Neku almost immediately turned to apologize to the man in the black shirt, but he walked away, seemingly not able to hear him. Neku furrowed his brow, but he had no chance to try again before Red once again yanked him around like he was pulling a leash. He said something too quickly for Neku to understand and pointed at the frog.

Which had now spotted them.

Well. Crap.

"Great going," Neku said sarcastically. "Now what?"

"Use your souls!" Red shot back at him, and held up a pin. The sunlight glinted off of its surface so Neku couldn't see what it was, but it was evidently very dear to Red. His trusty launcher was attached to his right arm, and he easily flicked the pin into place. Then, he lowered his arm and pointed it straight at the monster, which was hopping right towards them.

Neku yelped and scrambled back. "What are you doing?" he yelled to Red. "Get back!"

"You get your pins out!" Red shot back, still pointing his launcher at the monster which steadily approached. "I think I know how to do this!"

"Y-" Whatever Neku had wanted to say died halfway out of his mouth as he saw what happened next. Red launched his pin, the little circle flying through the air like a bullet. It was much faster than normal; the launcher shouldn't have been able to go that fast! It spiraled towards the frog, and was inches from its face-

Red vanished. The frog blurred into static for a moment, but very quickly phased back, still advancing. Neku pressed himself against the window of the shop, swearing loudly. He fished around in his pocket for a pin, any pin. Grabbing the first one he found, he held it out in front of him as if it were a shield.

"Red!" he called out. "Red! Where are you?"

There was no reply, save for the frog letting out a garbled croak, like the call of a drowning alligator. Neku winced and clasped his hands over his ears, and in doing so, the pin he held slipped out of his fingers like sand.

It didn't hit the ground.

Neku gaped at the pin as a large hammer unfolded out of the pin's side. The blue head gleamed in the sunlight and aimed right for the frog, smashing into its side. The frog was thrown onto the street, lying on the ground like a pile of discarded clothes. It flickered once, twice, and then disappeared into thin air with a crackling noise. The pin- The Hero Pin, Neku noted- hovered in the air in front of his outstretched hands. It seemed to be... laughing? It was ridiculous, Neku knew. But there was just no other way to describe the feeling he got from the pin.

Neku let out a shaky sigh, and leaned against the ramen shop window. He felt as if he had just run a hundred laps around Shibuya, and then a thousand push ups after. The Hero Pin drifted along the warm breeze into his hand, and Neku's fingers closed around it. It pulsed with warmth, and... amusement? Neku really didn't like the feeling he got from it.

"Blue! You okay?" Neku's head snapped up at the voice. Red stood in front of him, grinning like a madman.

Neku's jaw moved for a while, but nothing came out. "What happened to you?" was the eventual question. He just didn't have the energy to think of anything else.

"I don't know," Red said flippantly, shrugging and adjusting his bandana. He showed his Dash Pin to Neku, which was glowing with a faint red light. "I just used the launcher, and the pin turned into a stinger and hit the frog! Then you vanished, and I used the stinger again on it. After that, the frog was gone." Red shrugged again. "I don't know what's going on."

"Neither do I," Neku said, sighing in relief. It looked like Red was okay, even though a giant monster had just attacked the two of them. Still, he had a horrible headache and barely had enough strength to move his arms.

Behind them, the bell jingled. Dr. Pin Sr. came out, followed closely by Mr. Higashizawa and Pink.

"Good work, boys," Dr. Pin Sr. said. He nodded at Red. "I don't know what you did, but you got rid of the monster. Now its spirit is trapped inside the pin." His eyes darted between the two of them. "Which one of you killed it?"

Neku shrugged, but Red looked down at his pin. "Is this it?" he asked, showing the pin to Dr. Pin Sr.

The old man easily nicked the pin out of Red's grasp and lifted it up to eye level, examining it closely. "That's it! That's the monster's spirit, right there." Dr. Pin Sr. handed it back to Red. "You take care of it now. Keep it safe. We don't want to lose it.

"Yes sir!" Red said proudly. "I'll make sure it's always there!"

Dr. Pin Sr. nodded approvingly. "Good boy. One down, ninety five to go." Neku raised an eyebrow.

"Ninety five?" he echoed, feeling a wave of dizziness pass through him, not from exhaustion this time. "Ninety five more?"

"I have a list," Mr. Higashizawa grumbled, pulling some papers out of his pocket. He handed them to Neku, who scanned through it. On each sheet, there were little pictures of the monsters crudely drawn in pencil, with a number beside it. Ninety six in total.

Red peered over his shoulder at the list. "Did you draw this, Mr. Higashizawa?"

Mr. Higashizawa coughed embarrassedly. "Yes."

Pink plucked the papers out of Neku's hands, skimming through the list. "Looks like that one was number four." After going through a few more pages, he the teenager turned to Mr. Higashizawa. "Do I want to know how you got all this information?"

Mr. Higashizawa said, "Probably not."

"Fair enough," Pink said. And then, he turned to the two boys. "So, what happened? After Red used his launcher, I couldn't see a thing. It's like the two of you disappeared."

Neku frowned. "I thought he vanished too."

Red shrugged. "I dunno. It didn't feel like I vanished, but then Blue wasn't there anymore when I turned around to check." His face scrunched up as he tried to recall what happened.

By this time, Yellow and Green had left the shop as well. Yellow was rambling and asking questions at the same time, not able to find the right words to voice his shock. Green wasn't any better, stuttering over her words like she had a speech disorder. 'She looks like the time when she saw the Prince,' Neku thought snidely, but he knew better than to voice his thoughts aloud.

"Hey!" Red suddenly yelled. "You guys vanished too!" He pointed right at Pink, and the two other teens behind him.

"We vanished?" Pink had an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah! I hit that thing with a stinger, and then I turned around and the secret base was empty! You weren't in it."

"I can assure you, we didn't move at all," Pink said. A thoughtful look came over his face. "So you vanish, Blue vanishes, and we vanished too." A sort of half-smile crossed his face. "Curiouser and curiouser."

"Those hectopascals didn't vanish," Dr. Pin announced suddenly, striding out into the street. The bell danced madly. "I could see them. They were fighting that son of a digit with their pins. The zetta tiny squirt used a stinger, and the other hectopascal used a hammer."

"You could see them?" Green exclaimed.

"Yes."

"How?" Dr. Pin Sr. looked over curiously. Everyone turned their attention to the other man. Dr. Pin shrugged.

"I don't know. I just got this." He pulled out a pin from his pocket. It was black with a stylized skull on it, the exact same one that had gotten crushed the previous week. Neku could still see some dents on it, and one side was pushed in where Dr. Pin couldn't exactly get it to the original circular shape.

"Yo, ain't that the pin that went crunch?" Yellow asked, frowning at it. Dr. Pin glared at him.

"Radian. It just needed some more work."

"Still needs a lot more," Dr. Pin Sr. notes, ignoring the sour look from Dr. Pin. "But anyway, how could you see the two kids?"

Dr. Pin rolled his eyes, and tossed the pin at Dr. Pin Sr. He easily caught it, and his eyes went wide.

"They won't notice you unless you're right in front of them," the young man called out. "And the other radians won't see them until you point them out, so you'd better keep your mouth shut, old man."

Dr. Pin Sr. blinked rapidly, shook his head, and then handed the pin back. "That's one amazing pin," he admitted. "I still don't know how you made it, but that will be very useful for the kids."

"Ready to admit I'm a good pin fiddler now?"

"No. You're still working on it. But, this is a start." Dr. Pin Sr. did look genuinely impressed. "Could you make some more? Sixteen of them, I think. Is my math right?"

Yellow groaned. "We seriously need more math?"

"Ninety six divided by six," Pink supplied. "Ninety six monsters, six pins in a deck."

"Sixteen," Dr. Pin said immediately. "Yeah. I can make them. Gimme a day."

"The lab is yours," Dr. Pin Sr. said. Dr. Pin grinned triumphantly and then walked back into the shop with the purest look of glee on his face. Dr. Pin Sr. watched him go and then turned to the group. "Well! Now that that's done, how would you kids like some lunch?"

"A bowl of curry ramen for me, pops!" Yellow called loudly, at the exact same time Pink said, "Shio."

Dr. Pin Sr. grinned, and cracked his knuckles. "I'll fix some bowls up right away. Always good to see kids with a healthy appetite."

Mr. Higashizawa coughed. "And healthy wallets, you mean."

Dr. Pin Sr. was still smiling. "That too. Now get in; it's hot outside. And you kids need your energy if you want to save the world."