Shibuya sparkled with bustling action. People walked around through the streets, and laughed and talked to each other. Sitting up, Asaka moaned softly in pain. She felt a sharp pain in her side, most likely where she was hit by the car. She pushed herself up on her hands and knees. Nobody so much as glanced her way. "They weren't kidding..." she mumbled, and stood, looking around. She saw other people looking around as well, but knew the mission. They had to get to one of the stores, and find their partners. Easy enough, they just couldn't run into any Noise.

Asaka looked around. She was in the main square, right in the middle of downtown. The store was north, past one intersection. Not very hard. It was a ten minute walk, at most. She wondered why the mission was so easy, but couldn't come up with an answer. She started walking that way, avoiding the people shuffling around her. "Wow, Shibuya is pretty busy..." she muttered out loud.

~*~

Sho moved up to the roof of the tall building. From where he stood, he could see all of Shibuya, and even some of the surrounding area. "No wonder the Director likes it up here." he muttered, and then turned back, moving quickly to the meeting place. All of the Erasers, or Reapers, had been called for a meeting with the Director.

Mika was sitting up on a tree, with her scythe in one of her hands. As she looked around, she got a small flash back of her brother. "I wonder... if he's here too..." she wondered out loud. Just then she remembered they were having a meeting, and gracefully jumped down the tree. She took her time as she headed to the meeting place. She couldnt help but smile when she saw people walking around and talking to each other. It was hard for her to keep her eyes off anyone that seemed like brothers and sisters. Shaking the thought away, she continued on to where she was supposed to be. Mika ran over when she saw Sho and gave a playful smack on the back, "Hello there."

Misaki lied back against a tree, listening to the sounds of nature. He let out a soft bird call, and held out a finger. A small grey bird landed on it. He smiled. Then the phone in his pocket vibrated, shaking is hand a making the bird fly off. Misaki scowled as he took it out.
Meeting withthe director. Now.
"Damn him..." Misaki mumbled as he got up. He walked into Shibuya from the outskirts at a slow pace. This better be pretty freaking important...

"Pfft." Jin shook hair out of his face and leaned back against a wall, on top of the large building which was quickly gaining fellow Erasers . He crossed his arms and looked to the side, pretending not to marvel at the bustling town below. However, as he gazed out of the corners of his eyes, he noticed those of the city that appeared translucent were shuffling past eachother, going about their day. They were completely oblivious to the few who were lying on the ground, most of them waking from their stupor. A small smirk passed his lips; a new game had begun.



"Uhn."
Kanaye closed his eyes tight to the blinding light that shone even through his eyelids. Sitting up, he rubbed his face and looked around. Peoe rushed passed him without a glance, something he was used to. Why was he on the ground in the middle of the city? It was possible he crashed there. More than probable, actually.
Suddenly an annoying high-pitched beep reached his ears, and he instincitvely checked his pocket. Pulling out a cell phone, a pin slid out of his pocket. He paid it no mind and flipped open his phone. The text message left on it made his heart stop, cold.

"Hey? Can you hear me?" Asaka asked, walking around. She kept stopping in front of people who seemed confused, walking around. "Hey? You! Can you hear me?" Still, the people ignored her, and moved about their business. Asaka found that she was incredibly alone, even surrounded by such a large population. "There seem to be even more people walking around than usual, and none of them can hear me..." she muttered, and crossed her arms over her chest. She shivered violently, and turned her attention back towards the north. "I have to get to that store." she muttered.

~*~

Sho looked up sharply, and his eyes found his partner. He moved closer to Jin, watching the other Erasers catiously. "Know what's going on? It's been a while since the Director called all of us together. A few weeks since that Neku kid." he muttered softly in his lazy, romantic voice.

Mika turned around and saw Misaki heading this way. "Ugh that guy is slow as ever.... HURRY UP YOU SLOW POKE!" she yelled cupping her hands over her mouth as she did. She swung her scythe on the shoulders and tapped her feet as she leaned against the wall. Mika yawned and looked at Sho and his partner, Jin. Why did the director call them? That was something she wanted to know as well. Maybe it had something to do with the new players. She's seen a few new players that seemed like they didnt know what was going on.

Man, this was the worst day ever. How unlucky could he get? He had just been fooling around with his friends on the roof when the chain fence he had been leaning on had just given out. It had been a long fall, and damn, had it hurt. He pushed himself up, looking at the circle that had formed around him. But none of their gazes had followed him up. He was dead. They couldn't see him. They couldn't even tell he was there. The piercing sound of his cell shocked him out of his pondering.

He flipped it open and grimaced at the note that had appeared, then grimaced again as a sharp pain shot through his hand. He had to get a partner at a shop or something, and he had to avoid something called "Noise." This was all well and good, and Ryuu might have thought of it as a bit of a joke, but... that timer on his hand was unnerving. It went down slowly, and he had plenty of time left, but... He didn't want to chance anything. He took off as fast as he could, going to a shop he was sure would have a lot of people. It had to, or else he was in trouble.

"I'm not slow." Misaki said as he finally caught up with his partner, "I'm just..." Misaki thought about it for a second. "Yeah, okay. I'm slow. I was over by that tree I usualy hang out at. I saw a bird. It was pretty."
Misaki sat down by Mika and smiled. "Leave it to the director to interupt my meditation." He frowned and unsheathed his sword from his back. He held the blade out in front of him, the gemstone it was made of glinting in the sunlight. It was a Japanese katana, the blade made of Black Spinel, except for the edge. The edge was Sapphire. "If I get my hands on him I'll cut him apart!"

"Hold on hotshot, haven't you thought about it?" Rei giggled in her mature laugh from behind Misaki. "It must be game time!" As she said those words, she lashed her whip against the ground. The whip delved deeply into the earth, leaving a thin, but deep hole. "Honestly... it's the only thing that makes sense."

She let her whip dangle precariously throughout the crowd of Erasers. She still felt some unease. Why would only one boy cause them problems?

(OOC: I just kind of jumped in. Mostly because I don't see much point in making a post from all the way over there when I can just make one with the rest of the group.)

"Stop hurting the ground Rei. It gets mad." Misaki glared at her. Nature was precious. Anything that disrupts nature was evil in his eyes. Maybe I shouldn't get so hot over this He thought, My love of nature IS what got me killed after all. Misaki gave himself a little shake. He so desperatly wanted to be back at his tree.

Jin shot a glance at his partner and smiled down at the crowd.
"Take a look around, Princess," he gestured toward the city below and then at the people congregating. More and more Erasers were showing up, which meant the meeting was going to begin soon. "Definitely a new game." Meaning new rules, new quota. "Fun, fun, eh? Hopefully the Director's actually thought everything through this time." Looking towards the loud cracking sound that had just emanated from the ground, Jin gave a thumbs-up.
"Loud and obnoxious as always, dear," he muttered in the general direction of Rei. "Try and dumb it down a bit, willya?"



It could be he was overreacting. It could be he was dreaming. However, as the pain from his hand made him wince and a small timer made itself apparent, something told Kanaye that he most definitely was not. Picking up the pin he'd dropped, he felt his chest tighten and his mind start to buzz.
"Not now," he muttered, shaking his head. It was not the time to freak out. He had plenty of time to get to where he needed, but from what he could gather, there were things after him. Clutching the pin tightly, Kanaye took off toward the shop.
Running so fast he could barely breathe, it was easy to almost miss the Ramen shop he was supposed to stop at. And even easier to knock headfirst, smashing into someone else coming from the opposite direction.
"Rrr.." Naye grimaced as he rubbed his head, having landed on the ground. Realizing what it must mean if he could actually run into this someone, he looked up to see who it was.

Sho blinked. "Yeah, but rules are rules. He usually doesn't call us ALL here at once." Sho muttered. In actuality, nobody knew if the Director was male or female, or if he, or she, was even real. They were always spoken to through other people, never directly. Sho looked around. Seemed like everybody was here. He crossed his arms over his chest, thinking. "That Neku kid started a lot of shit, but that's all over. These are all new Players, right?" he muttered, and sighed.

~*~

"Ow..." Asaka muttered, rubbing her head. "Sorry..." She looked up at Kanaye, and her eyes grew wide. "Wait! If you touched me, that means you can see me!" she said, and jumped up. Her hair flew in front of her face, and she had to push it back out. "Can you?" she asked excitedly, her eyes sparkling.

"Shut up, Jin! You're just jealous because I'm bigger than Sho in the chest department," she replied while lashing her whip next to Jin on the words "shut up" and retracting her whip on the chest department comment. Rei turned towards Sho and blew him an air-kiss. "You know I love you," she said to Sho in a friendly manner. She had completely ignored Sho's words inorder to make a comeback against what Jin had said.
------------------------

"One last corner," Sumire muttered as she reached for the final corner between the wall and the counter. Success. Sumire had finished the cleaning from last night.

"Geez, dad!" she shouted up the stairs. "You could have cleaned better, instead of letting your daughter do all of the hard work early in the morning." Her dad made no response. "He's probably just trying to sleep in as usual. What a terrible father," she muttered to herself as she headed to the door of the shop. With a quick turn of the lock and swing of the open/closed sign, she had successfully opened up shop.

Sumire began the work by cooking up the day's special, "Salmon ramon with fried vegetables.

(OOC: First shop is open. Sorry for the wait. The phone rang)

Kanaye's eyes widened before he shook his head and stood, wiping dirt from his pants. "Yes, I can see you..." He looked up at the girl he'd knocked into, having a hard time hiding his anticipation. "..what does that mean, exactly? Is that good?" He cocked an eyebrow at her, slightly suspicious. Even if her answer was what he wanted to hear, how would he know she was telling the truth?
"What am I doing here? And who are you?"
Suddenly the sign to the shop they were in front of switched from "closed" to "Open," and without hesitation he stepped inside, looking over his shoulder to see if the girl was following.

~

"Heh," Jin smirked and crossed his arms again, looking up at the sky. "That Neku kid," he growled, "was more trouble than he was worth. Guess I wasnt even against him, so no big deal." He shrugged.
He hoped everyone was here, he was tired of waiting. Hated waiting. The most boring thing on the planet. And with all the fresh meat around, he felt the urge to go have a little fun.

Asaka moved, close behind Kanaye. She blinked, and smiled at the girl who changed the sign. "Why, hello there!" she said, and crossed her fingers behind her back. Her hair fell over her bare shoulders, and covered part of her dress. She took Kanaye's arm, out of instinct, and wrapped her arms around it.

~*~

Sho looked up suddenly. All at once, a voice spoke to them all, but nobody, other than the Erasers, heard it. They couldn't tell if it was mechanical or human, male or female, but they heard it clearly, all at the same time.

Greetings, my Reapers... My Erasers. It said, speaking to all of them at once. A slight echo fluttered through their heads. I am the Director. You do not know, yet, who I am, or what I stand for, but I am here to give you your instructions. They are simple, this week. I expect nothing less than the best from you. The voice made a dry sound that could only be described as a cackle. There are more Players like the ones from before... I expect these to disappear immediately. Starting tomorrow, it is open season on the Players. I want this to be a short week, so take care of them all. The voice paused, and Sho felt a chill go through him. he looked to Jin, and scooted closer to his partner. More is at stake this time, however. I will get rid of any Erasers that seem... obselete. A gasp went through the group of waiting Erasers. Today is a free day. Many of the Players have no memories, so they will be chosing their partners, exploring the area, and gaining information. I want you to go through, and act as a Player. Stay with your partners, and find the dangerous ones.[i] Sho glanced around the other Erasers. They all seemed older than most of the Players... At least the ones from the games before. [i]You will all return here at the end of the day, and recieve further instructions. You are dimissed.

Sumire forced a smile. She was happy to have customers, however, she had only just began cooking and would most likely need to prepare a new dish in order to satisfy them. "Hello to you too," she replied. "Would you two like to see the menu? Our special for today is 'Salmon Ramen with Fried Vegetables'"

Sumire more carefully scanned the pair after giving them her opening line. She caught the girl holding onto the man's arm and she giggled.

-------------
"It can't be helped... not with last week..." she mumbled to herself while staring down at the ground. When the voice ended she lifted her head. The Erasers had mixed reactions, although, what was more important to her was Sho's reaction. "Is he scared...?" she mused to herself. "Well... time to have some fun."

"Alright! You heard the man-woman-thing. The last one to do some erasin' is minced meat!" she shouted in a playful voice as she pranced through the crowd.

A young girl woke up quietly as she stared up to see people walking all over her, although, she couldn't feel them. It was as if they walked right through her. Her eyes widened and she quickly sat up, but she suddenly stopped when she felt pain in her abdomen and chest area. She placed her fingers on the spots that hurt the most, despite of whether she knew the people around her could see, and she remembered what happened. Her lip trembled, and her eyes began to water. She didn't stand up. She tried hard not to cry, but she couldn't help it.

"Why?" She mumbled, beginning to clutch her head in frustration, "Why would she do that to me?"

She felt something fall off of her chest and land on her lap. She looked down and saw something that looked like a pin of some kind. She carefully picked it up and looked at it. It had a strange design, something she couldn't describe. She sniffled a little and used her hand to wipe her tears as she put the pin away in her pocket. She slowly began to stand up, wobble, and observed the area. She would turn around and someone would walk right through her. She tried calling out so she could get their attention, but they continued on their way. It was as if she wasn't even there in the first place.

She clutched to her medium-brown colored hair and released it after she realized where she was. Her aquamarine colored eyes widened and she placed her hand over her mouth.

"Shibuya?"

She looked down at the floor and sighed quietly. She adjusted her black shirt with a butterfly symbol underneath her teal short-sleeve jacket and dusted off her lacy-black skirt. She took the pin out from her pocket and attached it to her extra-high black converse on the left side. After she did this, she rubbed her eyes one last time before she began to explore.

'Am I still myself?' she questioned her thoughts, 'Am I reborn? Am I still Ruka Kimiya?' The name rang through her mind. She knew that she was still herself. 'Is this a dream? Was it all a dream?'

Wow. Ryuu had never really realized how big Shibuya was. Or maybe he had just never had much of a reason to need to get somewhere fast. Other than his jobs, he lived without a schedule. He'd wander around the city slowly, just trying to hang out and have fun. Roaming had always been fun, especially when there was a bunch of guys going around with him. Now, everything was different. There were no "guys" here, for all the people he could see walking around him. He wasn't real to them. He was nothing more than a ghost, really. But one thing was for sure. He had no intentions of dying again. That first time had hurt enough. He had to find a partner, whatever that went. And where was the best place to look for people? Probably a popular shop, like Sumire's Ramen Shop. He went there all the time, and there were both a lot of people and very good food. And, even if there was no one there, he was hungry enough that it didn't matter in the least. Dying took a lot out of a guy.

"Wait, what?" Misaki snapped back into reality. He had been daydreaming. "Act like a player, huh?" Misaki thought about it What would I do if I was a player... He thought. His stomach growled. Guess I'd eat something first. Misaki yawned. I should probably stay with Mika, though... "Okay Mika, your call. Wadda ya wanna do?" He asked her.

"You... got to be kidding me.." Mika said with a sigh as she sank down on her chair. She mumbled some complains under her breathe and crossed her arms. Mika got up, "I.... have no idea. Um, I guess we can start by talking to some of the players." she answered looking at him. "I really wonder who this director person is..." she said out loud as she started to head out. "Come on Misaki." Mika said turning her head to see him still sitting down.

"Kay." Misaki said as he got up. He checked to see if his equiptment were still strapped on tight. Sword, check, bow, check, arrows, check, throwing knives, check... kay, good to go. Misaki yawned. Its to early for this crap. But hey, a jobs a job. "So where are we going? I'm hungry."

As Asaka greeted the woman in the shop, Kanaye felt his stomach rumble. Guess the dead have to eat too? he thought, shocking himself. He'd just refered to himself as dead, and was suddenly very unnerved. Feeling the girl who'd followed him in close in around his arm, he had the impulse to jerk it back. Instead, he shot a sidelong glare at her. "Hey, whaddya think you're..."
"Hello to you too. Would you like to see the menu?" Kanaye jerked his head up to the shop keeper, who he'd just realized could see and hear them. "Our specialty today is salmon ramen with fried vegetables."
"Okay, wait," he interjected, looking back at Asaka. "Was that it? Is the mission over?"

~

Jin feigned indifference as the echo left his head for good, but truthfully he found the booming voice to be more than a little disconcerting. As they were all dismissed, he looked to Sho, who obviously shared his thoughts. 
"We all have ears, Rei. Thanks," he said in the general direction of the whip-equipped automoton. "There is no way we're going to turn up the losers, Sho." He nodded, walking towards the exit. "Put your face on and let's get going." 

Asaka pulled out her phone, and checked the text. "We have to find... Partners...." she mumbled, and looked up at Kanaye. She still had her arms looped around his. It was then, however, that she noticed. She gasped, and pulled away. She blushed slightly, looking down at her feet. "S-Sorry..." she mumbled.

~*~

Sho sighed, and followed his partner. "We've got to keep this going. We're the MODS..." he said, and ran to catch up with Jin. "This makes no sense, though. Where are all the others? What about Lollipop, and his partner?" he asked, referring to two of the other Erasers (as seen in game). He shook his head, and his hair fell slightly out of his ponytail, into his face. "And why the hell can't we see the Director?!"

"Just walk around and look for some random players." Mika answered as she slowed down her pace to match his. "We can stop by at a store and eat if you want." she suggested looking up at him. She swung her scythe to the side and stared at the blade as she started walking. "Strange how the dead gets hungry to..." she said in a low voice. The memory of her past flashed through her mind like a video clip. She winced as the horrible memories and stared blankly ahead.

Mission? Partners? Sumire could only come up with one conclusion. "Aww... don't fight you two. It's perfectly acceptable for the girlfriend to hang on to the man," she said while bringing her hand up to her mouth to hide her giggle. "You're the man, so take care of her." She gave him a subtle wink before handing him a menu.

(OOC: I'm going to lay low with Rei until I have a partner. Also someone posted thinking about coming into the shop, but they didn't exactly post coming in so that's why I didn't want to include your character in as to avoid unintentionally bunnying)