Kori Tamashi opened his eyes, punctuating the event with a sharp intake of breath. It was dark here… why was it so dark? He sat up, grabbing his head in pain. Where was he? Why was he here? He closed his eyes, and began to remember.
That’s right, he remembered now. He had come to visit Shibuya during one of his days off from the university. He had spent the day screwing around, checking out the Jupiter of the Monkey store, and gossiping about the odd coffee shop that never opened. And, just a few minutes ago, he had been heading to the station to get on the train back to campus. And… that was where his memory turned to black. He touched his side warily. It was odd, honestly: his side had been hurting for the past two to three days, and now… the pain was gone. What had happened in that expanse of time? He groaned the question to the side, and stood up.
Joints aching from lying in the approximate same position for what seemed to be hours, Kori managed to inch his way out from the darkness, and into the light. A blinding, deathly light. Oh wait, that was the sun. He glanced around, trying to make sure where he was. It seemed like he was at the west exit… but what time was it? For that matter, what day? It was dark when he had entered the underpass, and now the sun was practically right above him. Well, it was no use just standing around… he needed to find out what was going on.
He approached a man who seemed to be doing nothing important, and asked, as politely as possible, “Sir, do you know what time it is?” He received no response. Was he being ignored? “What’s today’s date?” Again, no reply. He stepped away, confused. He picked out a woman, and asked similar questions. And was, once again, greeted by silence. He finally began yelling the question repeatedly, and was only stopped by a soft voice coming from behind him: “They can’t hear you, in case you can’t tell. None of them can.”
Kori wheeled to see a man leaning lazily on a wall, his right foot on the wall and his left on the floor. He stood out quite a bit, even amongst the variation that existed in Shibuya. The lack of a shirt was the first tip-off that he didn’t quite belong. His bare feet seemed rather impractical to Kori… and the dark green hooded sweatshirt around his waist seemed sort of pointless. The only things about him that served a purpose were his dark tan cargo shorts, and a white visor with the ‘words’ “J of the M” written on the side in dark purple block letters. His shorts were held up by a rope belt, showing off the rather large monetary discrepancy that he seemed to have.
“Why can you see me, though?” Kori asked the man, convinced he had stabbed a hole in the man’s logic. With an answering grin, the man shrugged. “It’s because I’m part of the Game, just like you. Sucks, eh? I’ve tasked myself with giving the Players a quick rundown of the situation, as it is. The Reapers love taking advantage of unknowing Players, cheating bastards as they are. You can tell who they are from their black wings.” He let his foot drop to the ground, and he stood up straight. “I’ll be blunt: you’re dead. As is everyone else in the Game. No, you cannot escape the Game through any normal means.”
Kori was taken aback. “I’m not dead, that’s absurd! I’m right here, and I’m talking to you, aren’t I?” A laugh was the man’s response. “Nah, you aren’t. Here’s the lowdown. You have to survive for seven days. Each day you will receive a message via text message. Reapers will be running wild, trying to destroy you with beings called Noise. In order to fight back, you have to make a pact with another Player. You should find some Pins in your pockets. One, black and white, is vital for your survival. The other will provide a defense. Visit Hachiko: surely you know what I mean. A man should be there: he’s a Player, and I’ve told him more info than what I’ve given you. Your mission will come soon, no doubt.” No sooner had his sentence finished that he received a text. It was worded as follows:
Every Player must reach 104. Take your time: you have no time limit.
When he looked back up, the man was… gone. Completely. He checked his pockets, as he was suggested, and found two pins: a black one with a white skull thing, and one white with a blue snowflake. Kori sighed in resignation: “I guess I have nothing to lose. Sure beats going to school.”
With another low sigh, Kori began strolling towards the Hachiko statue. 104… that was a department store, right? It was just north of the scramble crossing… and that wasn’t far from Hachiko. Looked like he had his work cut out for him. As he strolled along, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned, and saw several large tattoo looking things levitating in midair. He stopped, watching them in confusion. As he watched, he felt something collide with his side, sending him sprawling to the ground. He looked up, and saw what appeared to be a wolf with tattoos for its forelegs. “What the?” Kori asked, as he heard a loud, feminine chuckle from behind him. “Ahahaha! Too easy!”
Kori’s head turned and he caught sight of a woman with short… pink hair. She was wearing a short-skirted dress and… was that a corset? The one thing he noticed the most was two black wings coming out of her back. “You’re a… Reaper?” The woman crossed her arms in annoyance. “Ugh, just how much do you know, Player? Well, it doesn’t matter. Time for you to be Erased!” Kori shut his eyes in anticipation for the end, but he heard someone say, “Uzuki, don’t ya remember? Game Master Inu said no Erasure on the first day.”
Kori warily opened his eyes, noticing a man with orange hair striding towards them with rather lazy strides. The man had his shirt half unzipped, revealing a white wife beater underneath. He had what appeared to be a lollipop in his hand, and he seemed kind of tired. The girl, Uzuki, groaned in anger. “I know that, Kariya! I just wanted some fun! It’s not fair to get us all excited for a Game, and then just tell us to stand down as the Players mill around all smug that they haven’t died yet!” Kariya shrugged. “Don’t get your panties into a twist. We’ll have all the rest of the week to perform our job, and it’s nice to start off slow.” Uzuki huffed and stomped off, the levitating tattoos and the wolf vanishing into the aether. Kariya shrugged and strolled after her, sucking on the lollipop as he did so.
Kori lay unmoving for several long minutes, praying that they were really gone. When they didn’t come back to devour his soul or whatever it was they did, he pulled himself to his feet. Then, without delay, he sprinted towards Hachiko. What if they came back? What if Kariya didn’t stop her in time? He’d be dead for sure… again. Shaking his head free of those thoughts, he doubled his pace, reaching Hachiko ridiculously quickly. Once there, he propped one arm against the side of Hachiko and worked to catch his breath.
He heard the sound of a coin being spun into the air, and then being caught. This was followed by a gruff voice saying, “Did he just send me someone to babysit?” Kori grabbed his chest, scared out of his wits. He hadn’t looked behind the statue… The source of the voice walked out into Kori’s line of sight, revealing an orange prison jumpsuit covering his body. “Go by ‘Coins’, and by nothing else, got it? We’re gonna be partners for this next hell of a week.” Suddenly light shone around them, and ended as soon as it began. “Well, now that that’s over, let’s go to 104. It’s my third Game, and I’m tired of this shit.” Kori’s eye began twitching, as he was caught completely off guard by this man. Why the hell was he in a prison garb?
“Move your ass! I don’t know who the GM of this game is yet, and if it’s any of the higher-ups, your lagging around will get us Erased by Day Three.” Kori, scrambled to follow Coins, realizing why he went by such a name… his pockets were filled with change, and he was constantly rolling a coin around his fingers. “Since I just can’t call you Dumbass for the next week, how ‘bout you tell me your name?” Kori swallowed and muttered something unintelligible. “What was that again?” A quick swear later, “K-kori Tamashi, Coins.” Without turning, Kori’s large partner shrugged. “Fair enough. You’re Chills to me, now. You look like you’re stuck outside during a blizzard.” Kori hadn’t noticed, but Coins was right: he has shivering. Not out of cold, but out of fear.
They reached the scramble crossing, and Kori was surprised at the next words that came out of Coins’ mouth. “Sorry about the gruffness and rudeness. Used to swearing out everyone around me. Take no heed of it: I speak this way to everyone. I didn’t always act like this, though…” Kori was about to ask what, exactly, Coins had meant, but he was stopped. “We’re here. The other Players will get here soon.” Kori hesitated, and then, “The guy said you knew more about the Game?”
Coins sighed. “More than I’d ever want to know. I’ve been through the Game two times so far. The last day of the Game is always the worst. You have to find the Game Master -the strongest Reaper- and beat the shit out of him. At most there would be four to six of us left, and even with that many at once, they were near impossible to defeat. Intensely strong, the Game Masters are.” “I heard of the Game Master… two Reapers said they were told not to attack Players by, and I quote, ‘GM Inu’,” Kori muttered. Coins sat down on the ground, resting his head on his fist. “You sure about that, Chills? The Reapers never stop each other from attacking and Erasing us Players.” Kori shrugged, already growing accustomed to his nickname. He liked nicknames. “Well, one, Uzuki, tried to Erase me with odd wolf creatures, but another, Kariya, came in and told her to stop before she could finish me off.
That struck Coins as odd. “Well, Chills, I’ll tell you this: Uzuki never gives up. She carries grudges. No doubt as soon as the ban on Erasing Players is lifted, she’ll be right on our asses. Kariya, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. I remember him watching us as we fought the Game Master the first time, and he didn’t try to defend the GM at all.” Kori smiled after heaving a relieved sigh. “That’s excellent, then. One wants to Erase me, and one doesn’t. 50-50, huh?” Coins shrugged. “Besides that, we fight using psyches granted by pins. Mine allows me to fling small objects at people at high speeds. Usually only blunt force, though. Then, of course, there’s the Player Pin.
“Player Pin?” Kori asked, fishing around in his pockets for his pins. “Yeah, the Player Pin allows you to read the living’s minds. It only shows what they’re thinking at the time, so it can be a bitch to get any useful information out of them.” Kori fished out the skull-looking pin and showed it to Coins. “Is this it?” Coins nodded. “Yeah, hold onto it. We’ll need it.” Coins sat up straight, looking over Kori’s shoulder. “And look who’s coming. The thief and his lackey.” An indignant voice soon shrieked, “Shut up, dammit! I’m not a thief anymore, you dipshit! It’s your fault I’m here, Coins!” Coins sighed. “Again, Sticky, I told you, I didn’t rat you out, you retard.”
Kori turned to find two people coming towards him. Both were dressed in similar jumpsuits to Coins, and one looked… well, the only description possible was ‘sleazeball’. The other one… kind of looked like he… wasn’t all there. The sleazeball, presumably named Sticky, had long, ragged, greasy hair that looked like it would give you a disease if you got too close to it. Maybe it was because of the flies. “Oh, that’s what you always profess, isn’t it? Innocence, innocence, innocence. Just like when you…” He got no farther, because Coins kicked his legs out from underneath Sticky, sending the criminal smashing to the ground. Coins was about to follow up with a kick to Sticky’s head when the spaced out man stepped in between the two. “Move it, Scape.” The man-barrier simply grunted a thickly accented “No.” The air was tense for several seconds before Coins relaxed. “Remember never to bring that subject up again in front of my partner, Sticky.”
Sticky got to his knees, spitting up a small amount of blood. “That wimp’s your partner? I guess you’re really fucked this time around, Coins.” It took Kori a few seconds to realize that Sticky was talking about him. “I’m not…” Kori began before Coins put his hand on Kori’s chest. “Don’t waste your breath on Sticky. The bastard robbed practically everyone he knew, and most of the people he didn’t too.” Sticky began laughing as he got to his feet. “You’re one to talk, Coins. How much was it that you pilfered from that bank? Several hundred million yen, if I remember properly.” Coins gritted his teeth. “You and I both know that bastard was laundering money for several mobs. If I hadn’t taken that money of his and given it to YOUR victims, I’m sure that we’d all be screwed at this point.”
Sticky was about to reply, but he noticed Scape’s hand on his should. “Boss… other Players are coming. Let’s get out of sight.” Sticky shrugged. “Damn, guess you’re right. Maybe we can score some yen from the shopgoers in the 104 building.” They sauntered off, and Kori noticed something. “There are quite a few Players here already…” Coins shrugged. “Whatever the GM has in store for us can’t be good.” “Oi! What’s the deal with this… GM you’re talking about?” Kori turned to see a man and a woman walking towards them. The girl had long blonde hair, and the man’s was short and black. “Dammit, Genki, I swear…” the girl seemed to be reprimanding the man… perhaps siblings?
“Fine, sis, I’ll introduce us first. Hello there. We’re the Seimei siblings, Hono and Genki. She’s Hono, I’m Genki.” Kori offered his hand to shake hands, but Coins pushed it down. “So, Blaze and Shock, are you Reapers or Players?” Genki sighed, saying, “If we were Reapers, we probably wouldn’t be here right now.” Coins raised a finger to stop him and protest, but it dropped to his side. He had a point. “The GM is the head of this Game. We’ll have to Erase him on the final Day, or at the very least defeat him.” Genki pounded his fist into his hand. “And what if we destroy him beforehand?” Coins spat over to the side. “You can’t. The GM never shows up until the last day, or at least he hasn’t for the past times I was put in the Game.” Genki’s arms flopped down in sorrow. “Dammit, and here I was hoping we could get out of the Game early.” Coins shrugged. “Can’t, unless you get Erased, or-“ Coins was cut off by a loud voice exclaiming, “Attention, attention!”
The voice continued as all the Players in the area looked around for the source. “Players of all professions and ages! The Reapers welcome you to the greatest event in the Underground: the Reaper’s… GAAAAAAAAME!” The voice was greeted first by silence, and then by angry protest. “Oh man, and here I thought we were gonna have some excitement.” Kori pinpointed the source of the voice: a man standing on top of a rather tall building. He jumped off and landed on the ground, gasping. “Ho shiz, that hurt that hurt that hurt…” The man was, surprisingly, the man Kori had met outside the station. After a few seconds: “Well, now that I can feel something other than pain in my legs, I wanted to tell you all something. The Game Master has assigned me with the task of letting you get your bearings, so I’m gonna summon some weak Noise… even though it’s the best I can manage.” Tattoos appeared out of nowhere in the air, and began circling around the partnered Players.
They began with frenzied banter: “Time to fight, Chills!” “How???” “Just use your other damn Pins! I’ll try to help you out!” And then the Noise were upon them. “Coins? Coins?” Kori asked as he looked around for Coins. He wasn’t there. “Coi-“ he began before he got attacked by a frog. Well, two frogs and their tadpoles, to be precise. Kori fumbled in his pocket for the second pin, and when he touched it, he felt a surge of power. He pointed an open faced palm into the air, and chunks of ice appeared out of thin air. They shot out of the sky, stabbing into the tadpoles, dispersing them into gaseous ink. “What the?” Kori asked no one in particular as one of the frogs vanished in a similar way. He pointed his palm at the last frog as it shot towards him. He shut his eyes, afraid he had been to slow.
He opened his eyes to find his hand wrapped around an ice spear, with the frog impaled on the other end. “Did… did we win?” “Hell yeah, Chills! Blaze and Shock are both fine too! Most of the Players are safe!” Kori sighed happily as he realized Coins was right. “Congratulations, boys and girls! You’re all still alive! Isn’t that just peachy?” Kori turned to see the other guy, now quite obviously a Reaper, with his arms filled to the brim with Pins. “Time for celebrations!” He threw them into the air, and they scattered over the Player crowd. There were so many, that none of the Players noticed that some of them were… being changed.
Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:06 pm
