"Have you seen Joshua around?" I walked into the front area of WildKat, running a hand through my wet hair as I did so.

"Left for UG business. I thought you knew that. After all, you were with him yesterday when you guys talked with 'Phones," Mr. Hanekoma explained absentmindedly stirring his coffee with a spoon. I hummed, remembering our conversation yesterday with Joshua, who had never acted that way before. Joshua was usually a guarded person, who preferred to keep most, if not all of his thoughts to himself. I stretched and felt a small buzz in my pocket. Curious, I pulled out my phone and found a text from Solaris, asking if I was coming to the Composer event in the Higher Plane, that was being taken place in a total of seven days. In the Higher Plane, the Angels hosted an event that all Composers in the UG/RG were able to attend, which let Angels keep tabs on them. This was an effective way to record information on them if something had happened, or previous data of a Composer was outdated.

Overall, Joshua had never attended them regularly and probably wanted nothing more to do with the Higher Plane, after all of the visits he's made there previously, which almost ended in him being stripped of his powers and title; Twice. I sent a short reply back, explaining how I wasn't sure. Stuffing my phone away in my pocket, I opened the front door and turned back to Mr. Hanekoma. "I'll see you later. I'm going out for some fresh air." He nodded and waved to me as I turned on my heel, exiting the cafe. It's a wonder how it stays open when there aren't that many customers around to keep the place up and running.

The streets of Shibuya were crowded as usual, noisy, but overall I could bear the noise of everyone to an extent. The wind made my (h/c) sway back and forth lightly as I continued to walk, one step after the other, not caring where I ended up. I ended up making my way over to 104, when realized I was in the store, Go-go. It was a D+B brand, I believe. There were various articles of clothing on hangers set up around the store, as well as stands that had accessories and shoes on them. I looked at the clothing and saw a vest-blouse combo that reminded me of the vest and shirt that Mr. Hanekoma would wear. The only difference being that this one was made for women and neatly hugged their curves. I picked it off the hanger and found a pair of black skinny jeans nearby and checked for my size. Once I found it, I took it off of the shelf it was on and was going to go up to the counter when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around with a small smile decorating my features.

"Yes? Oh, hello. Shiki, correct?" I said. The brown haired girl nodded and I saw a girl with medium length pink hair walk up to her.

"Do you know her Shiki?"

"Um, yeah, we met the other day. (Y/n), this is my best friend, Eri. Eri, this is (Y/n). Do you know where Neku went He disappeared earlier today with Joshua," Shiki said. I bit my lip and looked over to Eri who looked curious as well.

"Um, I think Joshua wanted to talk with Neku about some questions that Neku's had about some past events. He probably pulled him away to... discuss them," I said, hoping Shiki would take the hint that this was not the conversation to be having in front of Eri, whom I was sure had never played the Reaper's Game before. "How about we go and get lunch together? I'll pay for these clothes and then we can go if you'd like." The two girls nodded and followed me up to the register where I grabbed a pack of gum and threw that with the other stuff I was paying for. After paying for the items, I grabbed my bag and let it dangle at my side as I walked out with Shiki and Eri. "So, Shiki, I don't mean for this to sound rude or anything, but I always run into you or one of your friends. It's like you're following me."

"Oh! We're not following you! Don't worry! Eri and I just happen to come to 104 to shop all the time and we happened to see you. I pointed you out, seeing how you were alone." Shiki held up some bags that held items they had bought form the various 104 shops to prove her point. I let them lead the way to the Shibukyu Main Store, where we entered Sunshine Shibukyu, a burger place. We entered the place and we waited in a line which wasn't as long as it had been before, thankfully. Once we got to the front, Eri ordered a salad and a water, while Shiki and I both ordered minestrone and a water as well as a(n) (f/d). The price was 1890 Yen, which I paid for, despite Shiki and Eri's protests.

"We could've paid for that. We just met but I feel bad letting you pay for it all. I mean, we could've split the cost," Eri protested, trying to reason with me. I shook my head and brought my food over to an empty table, Shiki and Eri following suit.

"It's fine, really. I'd rather you guys not spend your money on me. There's probably other things you'd want to spend it on," I said, taking a spoonful of the minestrone up to my lips, blowing on it before taking a sip of it.

"Sure, but you must have stuff you want to spend your money on too," Shiki said. I shrugged and shook my head.

"Not really. I only buy things like clothes and other random things. Are you both into fashion? I've never seen your outfits before," I commented.

"Uh huh. I make the outfits while Shiki makes them happen," Eri said.

"The outfits are cute and the needlework is well done," I said. They both said thank you and Shiki blushed out of embarrassment, not used to complements it seemed.

"So, (Y/n), do you go to school here? I was just asking because you looked around our age, but I've never seen you at school before. Or Joshua for that matter," Shiki said. Shiki definitely had an eye to notice somethings that others didn't. I shook my head. I couldn't tell them that I finished school awhile ago in the Higher Plane. I wasn't even sure about Joshua though.

"Home schooled. Mr. Hanekoma actually helped me; Acted like a mentor. I'm not sure about Joshua though. He's never mentioned school to me." That wasn't entirely a lie. Mr. Hanekoma did help me with schoolwork when he was still a 'pure' angel, and able to freely roam the Higher Plane.

"You and Mr. Hanekoma are pretty close huh?" I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, he's like my fatherly figure. My parents died many years ago...... They were murdered," I said, feeling my eyes start to water at the thought of them. I wiped my eyes and looked at Shiki and Eri. "But I'm doing better now, so don't worry about it.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. But who's Mr. Hanekoma?" Eri asked.

"He runs a cafe down on Cat street called WildKat," I answered.

"The coffee there is pretty good," Shiki said. I was glad to be off of the topic of my parents and the three of us had finished our food and Eri stuffed her water bottle in her bag. Shiki insisted that we all get some kind of dessert, and both her and Shiki refused to let me pay. We ended up getting our favorite flavors of the soft serve ice cream and ate it as we walked out of the store. Eri's phone had buzzed and she excused herself as she walked off to answer it in private. After she left, Shiki turned back towards me.

"Where did Neku really go? I had a feeling you couldn't say anything in front of Eri," Shiki said. I looked off to the side. She knew about the Game, and I was allowed to permit her access to limited information.

"Very perceptive. And you're right, I couldn't. He and Joshua had some UG business to take care of. That's all I know of what they're actually doing. I was with them when Neku was talking to Joshua yesterday, so I know it has to do with the UG. Sorry, but that's all I know," I said. "I guess you could try and talk to Neku when he gets back, but I can't guarantee that it's confidential." Eri came back up to us and I noticed two shadows disappear out of sight and around a building, as if they were watching us. Taboo noise? Or possibly Reapers?

"Hope you weren't waiting for too long. My mom called," she explained.

"It's fine, I understand. Well, are we going to go somewhere or what?" Shiki asked. I looked at her quizzically. "Go where?"

"Shopping of course. Where else would we go?" Shiki laughed lightly and I took another bite of my ice cream and made a face, seeing how cold it was. Eri laughed at my reaction. "Hey Shiki," I said. "You like Neku, don't you." Shiki nearly choked on her ice cream as her face heated up.

"W-What are y-you talking about? We're friends!"

"Uh huh. 'Friends'. You like each other. You already know that Neku though of you as the thing he valued most." I winked at her and it took her a minute to realize what I was talking about. Eri was confused but didn't say anything.

"W-Whatever! That doesn't mean anything. How about you and Joshua huh?" Shiki retorted. Eri giggled.

"Is that a guy you like (Y/n)?" I rubbed the back of my neck and saw what I had gotten myself into. I let out a nervous chuckle.

"Man, I just dug my own grave right there, and perhaps. What if I do?"

"Well, that's cute then. I just made a random assumption based on who I've seen you with. Speaking of which, I've only seen you around Joshua and Mr. Hanekoma."

"I have other friends. They just don't live nearby," I answered. Solaris didn't live nearby, if you're counting the Higher Plane as far anyway. But now that she mentions it, I didn't have many friends to be honest. There were other Angels who I talked to, but we were acquaintances, not really friends. I had finished my ice cream cone and threw away the napkin I was holding it with in a nearby trash can.

"Give me your phone for a second. I'll punch in my number and you can talk to me at anytime," Shiki said, holding out her hand. I hesitantly gave her my phone, and she gave me hers. After exchanging numbers between the three of us, I noticed the shadows behind Eri move again. I took my phone back and made sure that Shiki hadn't gotten into any of the special apps Mr. Hanekoma had installed on there and saw that none of them had been touched, thankfully. I took out the pack of gum I bought earlier and opened it, taking out a piece of gum. I offered some to Shiki and Eri who both politely declined. I stuck the piece in my mouth and chew on it as softly as I could. I stole another glance behind Eri and Shiki saw my gaze wander too.

"What are you looking at?" Shiki asked. I didn't answer but recognized the red hoodie on one of the two figures that were now visible and heading towards us at a fast rate. Shiki gasped, remembering that from her time in the Game as well. "But that's impossible...." I saw the other Reaper, who seemed as if he could easily rank as Officer, raise his hand as it started to glow. I ran forward and knocked Eri out of the way as the attack seemed to be aimed right at her. It zoomed past her and straight through the other people walking around. That shouldn't be possible. Reapers don't have that kind of power in the RG. Unless... No, that would mean that-"

"We don't have time for these games girlies," the Reaper in the red hoodie said. "Just allow us to erase you and we'll be on our way." Eri was unconscious from when I pushed her out of the way and put her mind to sleep so she wouldn't witness this.

"Who are you and how did you transport us to the UG?!" There had never been an occasion that a Reaper was able to bring a living person into the UG, without being the Composer or even Producer, because their power shouldn't stretch out to the RG. Shiki's face paled as she took in the information.

"Wait, we're in the UG?! But how? I'm pretty sure we aren't dead." A saw a familiar black and white noise symbol float nearby and I saw the markings along the second Reaper's body. A Taboo Noise sigil. It covered his body like a tattoo and the last time I saw one of the sigils was when Sho Minamimoto had created one in front of the Udagawa CAT mural. No one was able to find the original one that created the Taboo Noise in the first place (because the Taboo Noise had shown up before Sho had made any sigils to create the Taboo Noise), but I had a feeling that this Reaper had something to do with it.

"You aren't girlie. We transported you all here for points. We may be outcasts but that doesn't mean we still won't die if we don't erase anybody," the red hooded Reaper replied. The second Reaper had a dark chuckle that sent chills down both mine and Shiki's spine. A dreadful feeling overcame my body as the one covered in the sigil raised his arm, sending the Taboo Noise symbols fly at me and Shiki. I prepared to battle them in a crouched position next to Eri's unconscious body. The Reaper with the sigil put down his arm as he rushed towards us both

"Get ready to meet your doom! Because these Noise don't play nice, and neither do we!"