Chapter 12 - Eiji Hoshino???“Holy shit…!” Katoru’s shadow-thingy gasped, speaking for all of us having witnessed this bloodbath.

  W-Was he using that thing as a surrogate body? His real one was still cradled on the floor, covering his ears like you’d just told him wrestling was fake.

  My arms wouldn’t lift the hammer, damnit, my legs refused to carry me across to knock some sense into the idiots.

  There were a lot of things in life I’d wanted to see, and a grizzly murder was not one of them.

  As if sharing my perspective, the aforementioned shadow-thingy sprung onto Daisuke, this time in an effort to assist him, punching a hole straight through the canine that evidently had dinner pns with the poor knucklehead.

  Daisuke staggered, trying to find his bance as he registered what had happened to him, what was being done to him, before he fell to ground with a thud.

  “Rusuban…” I muttered, my eyes nding on his own, which were narrowed in rage. My heart started to pound. “Rusuban, what the fuck was that about?!”

  Noise or not, it was clear from the dude’s demeanour that he was responsible for this in some way, shape or form.

  At my accusation, he simply shrugged, his cadence suddenly becoming as breezy and carefree as though he hadn’t just attempted murder.

  “Figured I’d even the tally, that’s all.” He admitted flippantly. “If he was too distracted to notice the Noise sneaking up on him from behind, after stabbing our backs the way he did, I’d say that’s his own issue, wouldn’t you?”

  There were a few profound beats of silence that fell upon us, and instinctively I knew what was going on. We were all picking sides – deciding whether we judged Daisuke’s actions as deserving of such a punishment, or whether it had gone much too far.

  I didn’t like it.

  “YO!” I interrupted. “Shadow kid! Get him over here to us, NOW!”

  Now seemingly in his rightful body, the boy rushed over to us, his ‘friend’ floating beside him, carrying a limp Kurogane in its arms, with no smartass remarks this time!

  I suppose death makes even the smartest of asses get their act together.

  “I can’t…take you guys… anywhere, y’know that?” Groaned Furusawa, who’d materialized by my side at some point. He was looking pale – likely from overuse of his abilities.

  “H-Hey, you don’t look so hot either.” I pointed out, concerned. After all, who would take care of the guy who takes care of everyone else? Others may find it poetic – I found it tragic.

  “I reckon I’ve got just enough left in me to close up that nasty wound of his,” He struggled, ying a gentle hand on our beloved vice-rep once he’d been dropped onto the floor . “That’s about…as far as I can go. Any more, and I’ll be joini-“

  In reaction to Furusawa falling, I found my arms automatically spread out, finding his own shoulders and grabbing onto them tightly. I wondered if he had been eating well – it was as though I was lifting a small child.

  “Alright, that’s enough for you.” I comforted, ying him down gently against a wall, and sitting him down on the ground. “I’d say you’ve flipped off the Grim Reaper enough times today, huh?”

  Even when he was on the brink of passing out, his smile – like you’d just told him the funniest joke in the world – made my chest go all fuzzy.

  I didn’t know it, and I didn’t trust it.

  “Speaking of Reapers,” I continued, addressing the group as a whole. “Where did our own run off to?”

  “I think they went to light the st mppost up in Spain Hill,” Furusawa answered weakly. “Once the fighting started, they approached me, and it kinda became the world’s most intense game of charades. I got it after a while, handed over the lighter, and they ran off in that direction.”

  “If that’s then taken care of...” Our resident almost-murderer spoke, in a tone that was still way too eerily casual, “Then what do you suppose we do with Mr. Traitor over here?”

  I didn’t know if ‘Traitor’ was the most accurate word to use – at least not yet. Plus, I hadn’t forgotten the way Rusuban himself had been chasing after that orb-looking thing.

  Still, something was bugging me about the way that Noise just showed up. How did nobody except Kinoko see it approaching?

  From what we’d seen so far, the Noise had a predilection for sticking to the main roads and pavements, almost…almost like people. We should’ve seen it coming from a mile away.

  It seemed as though the answers to the questions led to more questions in and of themselves, leading to an endless thought cycle. I supposed they could wait – at least for now.

  “Leave him. Between the pummelling and the bite, I’d say he’s learnt his lesson by now.” Mizuko judged, though there was a bitterness in her voice that ran counter to her level-headedness.

  “I hope you’re right.” I muttered, and I indeed, I feared what would come next if she – if we – were wrong.

  After a few awkward, pensive moments in silence (I mean, what are you really supposed to in a situation like this? Whip out the UNO deck?), Reaper eventually returned to us, lighter in tow, and presumably having lit the final ntern at Spain Hill.

  “Fantastic work,” Sung Juno, the various equipment around the space sputtering to life with his enigmatic image. “I noticed there was a slight… disagreement amongst yourselves, though it seems a compromise was struck in the end.”

  “Yeah, death tends to be a real dealbreaker.” I wanted to say. Instead, my exasperation gave way to curiosity.

  “You can see us?” I proposed. Sometimes you have to py a sucker to catch a fool, I reasoned.

  “Of course,” They admitted. “I see and hear everything that occurs in this pne, though do not fear – I am under no obligation to share what is done in privacy.”

  What…What did that even mean? That if something went down between some of us in secret, he wouldn’t inform the rest? Why would that ever happen?

  More importantly, why did Juno decide to specify that case in particur?

  Whatever – they’d confirmed what I’ve been suspecting all along. Juno’d been watching us like a hawk.

  “If that’s the case, I’m guessing you knew what that spherical artefact was?” Inquired Mizuko. The verbosity of Spherical Artefact forced me stifle a chuckle.

  “Indeed. You are not the only ones to possess EXS – all living beings harness it to different degrees, for in truth, it is the essence of all that lives, all that exists.” They expined. “So, as expected, Noise also possess EXS. Their entire reason for pursuing you is to absorb the immense amount that you yourselves hold.”

  This was (somehow) getting crazier by the minute. I pushed aside my disbelief in favour of interrogating the idea in my head, as outndish as it seemed.

  “Now, when you retaliate and destroy a Noise, what remains of their EXS becomes avaible for you to absorb. For the weaker Noise, this amount is very minimal, and thus is unable to take shape. “ They delineated. “Stronger Noise, like the one you encountered, harbour much greater EXS than their subordinates, and thus if you are able to fell one, their EXS will be given form, avaible for any among you to absorb.”

  To my surprise, I was actually beginning to understand it all – but what does absorbing their remaining EXS actually do? Replenish our own supply?

  “As for the effects of such an action,” Juno began as if having read my mind (wait, can they actually do that??), “Not only will your EXS supply be replenished, but you will also find your abilities upgraded in some way, shape or form. I’m afraid I cannot tell you precisely which part of your repertoire will be ameliorated – that is your duty to discover.”

  It was all making sense now – why Daisuke had suddenly gotten so confident after having absorbed the thing – it made his ability stronger! He must’ve felt that, and decided to use us as test subjects.

  You can see how well that ended for him.

  But, did he know that’s what the orb did? I was beginning to doubt it. Maybe he just surmised it must’ve been something of value and wanted to snatch it, the goblin.

  Though, I suppose we’ll have to interrogate him when he gets back up.

  I opened my mouth to query more information, but was met with a decration I’d been waiting to hear all night.

  “Now, with the task at hand complete, I shall begin sending you back to your homes. But first, some matters to take care of. “Juno commenced. I suddenly didn’t like where this was going. “The rest of your time spent here will be framed simirly – I will bring you in here, you will have a task, you will perform it, and I will send you back home – nothing more than that. This will repeat for the remainder of the week.”

  The gasps that erupted from our gathering understated the true terror I felt in my heart, at the prospect of having to repeat this nightmare for the next six nights.

  “Do not bother trying to run away, or perhaps even trying to avoid sleep. I promise, it will not end well for you. Simply heed my counsel, and you will grow stronger than any threat that roams these streets.” Our captor assured, but it was safe to say that made absolutely nobody feel better about any of this. “With that out of the way, allow me to finally introduce the rankings.”

  Without warning, a holographic screen appeared before us, suspended mid-air. On the screen were 5 lines of names – pairs – and numbers followed. My eyes were drawn to the first pair.

  Yuki no Yurei & Reaper – 27 Points

  Perhaps in response to our visible confusion, Juno hummed, as if having observed something, before continuing.

  “Based on your actions during each night, I will award the different pairs with ‘points’. I hope you still remember your pairs, yes? There are various ways to earn ‘points’, such as sying more powerful Noise, like the one you encountered today, completing the assigned mission, what have you.”

  I almost wanted to ugh. Points? Maybe this really was a game to them after all.

  “In addition, I will use my own judgement to award pyers points where I see fit. For example, based on feats of leadership and initiative, I have awarded the pyer known as Yuki no Yurei an additional ten points, in addition to the twelve she has already earned through dealing the final blow to the Noise. To her partner, Reaper, I awarded five points for completion of the final objective by themselves.”

  So it was a rigged game. Amazing.

  “Yuki no who?” The shadow boy commented.

  “Her,” The redhead who’s name had slipped my mind spoke, gesturing toward Mizuko.

  “W-Well, yes, but…I never gave that name. Why is…?” The girl of the hour admitted, confused.

  “As for the aliases given to each pyer, fear not. I have created these based on each pyer’s personality, ability, and history, in order to provide a more…comprehensive manner of referring to your fellow pyers. Of course, the logistics of your discourse is completely your choice.” Juno expounded.

  I wasn’t buying it. These names looked personal – the kind of thing you couldn’t guess just from taking a few looks at someone.

  Whoever this ‘Juno’ was, they were a lot closer to home than I’d given them credit for.

  With this new information revealed, I opted to take a look at the entire leaderboard.

  1. Yuki no Yūrei & Reaper – 27 Points

  2. Resolution & Soce – 17 Points

  3. Kumo & Fenrir – 9 Points

  4. Cordyceps & Red - 6 Points

  5. The Twisted & Scarecrow - 0 Points

  Upon reading the name ‘Resolution’, this uneasy sensation – like my heart had been invaded – ravaged across my entire body. A cold shiver ran down my spine, and I desperately wanted to go home.

  “Wait!” Excimed Rusuban. Was he ‘The Twisted’? No – no, probably ‘Cordyceps’ by process of elimination. But isn’t that some kind of pnt? Why is that relevant to him of all people? “This ranking – why is it important? What fate awaits those who stand at the top?”

  There was a pause.

  “…and those who are at the very bottom?” He finished. Rusuban had really been creeping me out tely.

  Juno then halted themselves, as if pondering something, before answering.

  “Well, what does your heart tell you? What do you think will happen to those at the top? What do you surmise will await those at the bottom?”

  The atmosphere was thick and heavy with implication.

  In truth, we likely all knew what this was for. What was really at stake in this survival game. It was only that we couldn’t – or wouldn’t – say the words ourselves with our lips. That would only serve to make it real, and not the faraway nightmare we’d all hoped it would end up being.

  I looked at my ‘fellow pyers’, investigating their states of mind, but none would return my eye contact, for which I thank God.

  “…I believe that is all for now.” It spoke in conclusion. “Now, I will send you back to your world. Convene, discuss, prepare, if you will, for we will meet again tomorrow. For now, I bid you farewell.”

  Shit. We couldn’t afford to go into the next night blind. If we wanted a chance of surviving in this pce, we needed to move with purpose and intention.

  “H-Hey! Everyone!” I yelled, fighting to keep my eyes open. “Let’s meet on the rooftop, after school. We need to…need to…talk…”

  It was too te – I was on the ground. I felt an array of thuds accompany me, and as I made one final prayer that my words had reached them in time, I allowed my eyes to close, carried away by sleep into the next world.

  “Fuck…” I groaned after having woken up with a start. My arm - the arm that I’d risen to for years of my life – had terrified me. It sounded like one of them, and instinctively I punched the damn thing off of my bedside table.

  After crashing against the wall, there it y – silent and still as a mouse. Taking deep breaths, I made myself remember the st night. The st night of struggling, of pain, of misery. This was only the beginning.

  Why us? Why would we have to suffer such hell, ripped away from our lives in order to fight for the very right to have them?

  I could find no answer – not in the rising sun through my orange curtain, not in my father rapping on my bedroom door to inform me it was time for my mandatory morning run, and not in the quiet, strangled sobs that were being buried into my duvet.