Episode 1: New 7 Days (Part 2)

(𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑶 𝑨 𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺 - 𝑷𝑺𝑨𝑳𝑴//𝑻𝑹𝑬𝑬𝑺 𝑾𝑯𝑰𝑳𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑫𝑶𝑵𝑻 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑮𝑬𝑻 𝑻𝑶 𝑷𝑼𝑻 𝑰𝑻 𝑶𝑵 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑷)∇∇∇

...

As Ao bounced along beside Tsugumi, her voice a counterpoint to Tsugumi's silence, "Oh! And guess what else?" Ao chirped, "Our Player Pins! they let us hear people's thoughts! Pretty spooky, right? Hehe well I guess that you already kinda know that, it's like the first Jumpscare of this game" She nudged Tsugumi playfully with her elbow.

Tsugumi stopped dead, her gaze distant. "...Player... Pin..." She whispers.

"How do you know so much about all of this." Tsugumi says, her voice a low growl. "Are you part of this twisted joke?"

"Ah?" Ao stops, staring at Tsugumi's back with her eyes wide open. "What? No! You got it all wrong T-chan!"

Ao giggled, before her cheerful smile wavered, giving way to a flicker of genuine sadness. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you." She took a deep breath, scratching the back of her head. "Well... Before I met you, I made a Pact with someone else. We... we figured some stuff out by asking around other Players, surprisely there was a lot of information around. You know, before the Dixiefrogs started showing up and erasing everyone." Her voice trailed off slightly. "He... he got erased."

Tsugumi turns her gaze to Ao, her expression unreadable.

"Anyway," Ao continued, rubbing her neck, "he was super smart. We learned about the pins, the Psychs, the Pacts, and about... the Noise. That's what those frog-things are called, by the way. Dixiefrogs are just one kind of Noise." She paused and then added, almost as an afterthought, "And yeah, he also said that the Player Pin us hear thoughts. It's how we know who's a Player, we can't scan each other minds pretty much."

Without another word, Tsugumi turned and began to walk faster, whispering slowly to herself, "Noise... Erasure... A lost partner... It's doesn't matter..."

Ao frowned, a rare sight on her usually bright face, but despite Tsugumi's accelerated pace, she kept up with her.

Their path led them back to the center of Scramble Crossing, where the barrier was keeping them from getting though.

"Uh? Wha!? It's still up! What are we supposed to do now!?" Ao hisses, scratching her hair.

"..." Tsugumi runs her fingers on the solid barrier, touching it lightly.

In the distance a strange person stares at the duo and then walks away.

Suddenly the barrier disappears, Tsugumi's fingers getting pass the barrier, Tsugumi's eyes narrow, moving her hand pass the part that was blocked.

"...I can get though..." Tsugumi whispers and then walks towards Scramble Crossing.

"Woah! T-chan! You got though!" Ao's eyes widened, then she dissolved into giggles. "The barrier is down? Why suddenly though...?" She rubs her chin.

Tsugumi was already slightly far away, Ao sighed, a sound of resignation mixed with a hint of admiration and quickly followed her again.

...!

Just as Tsugumi stepped through the barrier, The invisible wall coalesced back into being solid, being now trapped within Scramble Crossing.

Ao stopped beside Tsugumi, pointing at the barrier with wide-eyed astonishment. "T-chan! Look! It just... put itself back together! That's insane!"

Tsugumi turns, sharing at the barrier, her fists shut tight while her face remained indifferent.

"Oh?" Ao bounced slightly, a cheeky grin spreading across her face as she stares at Tsugumi's fists and then her face. "Man, T-chan, you've got a lot of pent-up anger, don't you? You look pretty good at hiding it too! Maybe you need Dr. Ao to talk about your feelings! It's super unhealthy to keep it all bottled up, you know!~"

Tsugumi turns he gaze at Ao slowly, her eyes sharp and dangerous.

Ao watched, a mixture of awe and concern on her face. "T-chan, whoa, easy! It's just a joke, you know? Don't need to look at me with those hunter eyes... It's... scary..."

Tsugumi keeps staring at her, her gaze challenging her to pass another word at her.

"Sorry... It wasn't... funny wasn't it?" Ao scratches the back of her head.

Tsugumi turns away, seeming to not have forgiven her.

"T-chan..." She whispers. "I kinda get it but... what do I do to be more friendly to her? Man..." Ao closes her eyes, letting out a deep sigh, she scanned Scramble Crossing with the pin and then, she pulled out her phone, adorned with charms and her Pyrokinesis Pin. After a few taps, she frowned. "Huh, that's weird."

Tsugumi turns her gaze to her, her stare still hostile.

"Look!" Ao showed her the phone screen.

𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡========================>

"ERASE THE NOISE 'TOGETHER" OR FACE ERASURE."

                                            - The Reapers.

================================>

"It's the mission," Ao explained, her brow furrowed. "It's the same as before. Which... doesn't make any sense. We already cleared it, right? We beat the Dixiefrogs." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "That Player I told you about, he said that once you clear the mission, you can usually go right to Day 2. So, why is the barrier still up?"

Tsugumi looks to her hand, and then rises it towards Ao, staring down at her.

"Uh? What!?" Ao gasps, staring at her own hand. "Ah!? I-i didn't knew about this! The timer!"

As Ao's gaze swept across the crossing once more, something caught her attention. Near the edge of each barriers, several figures stood motionless, almost unnaturally still amidst the bustling crowd. Using red zip-up hoodies left open, revealing dark gray v-neck t-shirts, baggy, slouched jeans over white sneakers, ball caps pulled low over their hoods, obscuring their faces in perpetual shadow, all of them carrying a camouflage patterned satchels.

Ao pointed towards them, a shiver running down her spine. "Hey, T-chan... do you see those guys? They're kinda... creepy, right? I don't like 'em."

Tsugumi followed Ao's gaze. "Those people... They have been following me for quite a while... Yet, they haven't attacked..."

"Who are they." Tsugumi asked, her voice flat while holding Mr. Mew a little harder.

Ao shivered again. "I don't know exactly who they are, but my last partner told me about some Game Masters, or something. They're the ones who set the rules, I think, but I don't know if those are them... And they just... watch. Like, all the time." She glanced at Tsugumi nervously. "They look... dangerous though. Like the Dixiefrogs, but in a different way."

Tsugumi's gaze remained fixed on the shadowed figures. "Dangerous," she repeated, a hint of disdain in her voice. "And yet they just stand there, watching me run in circles... There must be a purpose to their existence..." Tsugumi whispers to herself, crossing her arms.

"But why is the mission still here?" Ao fretted, gesturing at her phone. "We erased the Noise! We did it together! That's what it said! Erasure the Noise 'TOGETHER' or face erasure!" She read the mission text aloud again. "Maybe... maybe 'together' doesn't just mean fighting side-by-side?" She looked at Tsugumi, a hopeful yet confused, expression on her face. "Like, maybe we have to do something else... together?"

"Disgusting..." Tsugumi looks away a little, thinking to herself. "But... If together simply meant cooperative combat, the barrier should have dissipated... There was another layer to this...."

"I'm out of ideas, T-chan, please help me figure this out, pretty pleaseeeee!" Ao puts up puppy eyes.

"Use the Pin to hear what they are thinking." Tsugumi points towards the shadowy men.

"Uh..." Ao hesitated, then shrugged. "I can try! I guess... My partner said the Player Pin lets you scan stuff to get info sometimes, but it didn't always work on everything." She concentrated, holding her Player Pin up and seemingly focusing her will yet nothing happened. "Nope," she said, frowning. "Just regular people, Whatever they are. Can't scan them."

Tsugumi pressed her lips into a thin line. "So, these Game Masters are immune to our basic abilities... Another dead end..." She whispers and sighs. "The girl is even more useless than this damn pin... tsk" Tsugumi looks away while losing herself into thoughts once more.

"Hmm," Ao hummed, thinking hard. "He just said that sometimes, missions are trickier than they look. That they usually involve, like, understanding Shibuya, or people's feelings. He said the Game Masters are really into, like, messing with our heads." She glanced at Tsugumi nervously. "He also said they don't always give us all the info upfront. You gotta, like, find it."

"Find it... The ability to hear thoughts, to perceive the undercurrents of the city, perhaps that's the key to understand the rules of this game... Yet..." Tsugumi pressed her lips into a thin line once more, all this was just a fever dream and a headache for her.

"So, what do we do?" Ao asked, looking around the landscape of Scramble Crossing, "The barrier's not going down. We can't stay here forever."

Tsugumi closed her eyes for a moment, pushing aside the irritation and the lingering ache from the battle. "Tsk... useless... Once she gets out of useful info to share, I'll get rid of her." Tsugumi sighs, keeping her thoughts to herself, She focused on the ambient mental chatter, letting it wash over her like a strange tide. The usual mundane thoughts dominated, complaints about the heat, excitement for a new album release and worries about work. "...Hm..."

"Listen," Tsugumi commanded, her voice barely a whisper tightening her grip on her Player Pin, "There has to be something. Something different."

Ao tilted her head, trying to concentrate. "Listen to what? It's just... people thinking about lunch."

"I will not repeat myself," Tsugumi said, a plan beginning to form. "The mission isn't about erasing the Noise. There is only one tool." She looked at Ao. "You can hear their thoughts. You can perceive their emotions. What if... they can lead you to the objective?"

Ao's eyes widened. "They will lead us? They can't see us, remember T-chan?"

"Do you need a drawing to understand?" Tsugumi countered, staring down at Ao with disgust, she turns away, closing her eyes. "it is not just any random thought. It's specific. And it's focused on something specific here." She gestured vaguely around. "Figure out what."

As they continued to observe, Tsugumi focused on the strongest thought surges, and her gaze was drawn to a girl sitting on a bench.

Then, a new thought echoed through her mind, emanating from the girl. '...the legend of the Statue of Shibuya... was it really true? Those stories back then we're soo exaggerated...'

Tsugumi's eyes snapped towards Hachiko, "The loyal dog..." The statue of Shibuya." And then she looked back at the girl. "Could it be connected...?"

"The Statue of Hachiko," Tsugumi stated, holding Mr. Mew tight.

Ao's face brightened. "Oh! You mean like urban legends? Shibuya's full of those! But what about the Hachiko statue? Everyone loves Hachiko!"

"It's Hachiko, the mission has something to do with Hachiko," Tsugumi closes her eyes, analyzing what she knew now.

Ao stared at her, then at the bustling crowd, then back at the ominous figures by the barrier. "Okay," she said, "Okay. This is way weirder than fighting frogs. But... if we do it together, we can figure it out, right?" She offered a small, tentative smile, less boisterous than before.

"Retard..." Tsugumi didn't return the smile, walking towards Hachiko.

"Wait for me! T-chan!" Ao follows right after.

The duo reached Statue of Hachiko, where a young couple stood there, radiating palpable nervousness, seeming timid and embarrassed.

The boy, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, risked a quick glance at the girl. "The weather looks, um... nice, right?" he mumbled.

The girl, her cheeks flushed, looked anywhere but at him. "Um, yeah... the weather..." she responded, her own voice a soft mumble. "Um, the people are, um... very well dressed too... um."

"Aww!" Ao was instantly captivated by the scene, her eyes sparkling. "They're so cute!" she whispered, a wide, smile spreading across her face. "First date nerves! It's the best!"

Tsugumi taps her feet slowly, her hands on her headphones, her eyes closed. "..."

"Ah come on T-chan, watch them too!" Ao smiles widely, "It's so cute to see a couple developing their love like this!"

But Ao, oblivious to Tsugumi's disdain, leaned in, trying to catch every word of the painfully slow conversation. "Hehe!"

The boy cleared his throat, shifting his weight. "So, um... have you, um... been around here before? Like, a lot?"

The girl finally risked a quick glance at him, then quickly looked away, her gaze fixing on a distant billboard. "Um... yeah, I come here sometimes. For, um... for shopping. And... um... for the atmosphere." She wrung her hands together, a small, nervous gesture. "It's... very lively."

"Yeah," the boy agreed, "Lively. It's... a lot. Sometimes. But, um... good lively, right?" He offered a tentative smile, which she didn't quite see.

"Um... yeah," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Good lively. Definitely. Are you, um... are you from around here?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah! Born and raised!" he chirped, gaining a tiny bit more confidence. "My family's lived here forever. So, um... yeah. I know this place pretty well. Mostly. The, um... the good spots. For, um... for food. And, um... like, games."

"Oh," she said, her voice a little brighter. "Games? What kind of games?"

"Like, um... arcade games. The ones with the, um... the rhythm stuff. And the... the claw machines! I'm actually pretty good at the claw machines, sometimes." He sounded genuinely excited now, a small spark of his true self breaking through the nervous facade.

"Really?" she asked, her gaze finally, tentatively, settling on his face for a full second. "That's... that's cool. I'm... not really good at games. I usually just... watch."

"Oh!" he said, his smile widening. "Well, um... maybe I could, um... I could teach you? Or, like... we could... go together? To the arcade?" The question hung in the air, heavy with unspoken hope and fear.

The girl blushed crimson, her gaze darting away again. "Um... that would be... um... nice. Yeah. Nice. I... I like arcades. The... the lights are pretty."

Ao suppressed a giggle, clapping her hands together. "They're totally into each other! So obvious!" she whispered to Tsugumi, who remained listening to music on her headphones.

The boy, emboldened by her hesitant agreement, took a half-step closer. "So, um... what else do you... like to do? Besides, um... shopping? And... atmosphere?"

The girl looked down at her shoes. "Um... I like to... read. Sometimes. And... um... listen to music. Indie stuff, mostly. And... um... sometimes I just... walk around. And... um... look at things."

"Oh! Like, um... exploring?" he ventured, trying to find common ground. "This place got a lot of good spots for that! Hidden alleys and stuff. Have you ever been to... like, the Cat Street back alleys? They're really cool. Lots of, um... independent shops. And cats."

"Cats?" she echoed, a small, genuine smile finally gracing her lips. For a fleeting moment, her nervousness seemed to subside. "I... I like cats. I have a cat. Her name is... Muffin."

"Muffin!" the boy exclaimed, his face lighting up. "That's a great name! I used of have a dog, but he... um... he got old. His name was... um... Biscuit."

"Muffin and Biscuit," she said, a soft giggle escaping her. It was a sweet, genuine sound that cut through the general hum of the crossing. "That's... um... that's cute."

Ao's smile widened. "They're gonna be a thing! I can feel it!" she whispered to Tsugumi, nudging her again.

Tsugumi takes out a napkin from her bag and cleans her shoulder, where Ao touched her. She looks away and steps to the side, unimpressed or unamused by the interaction.

"...How long would this fragile connection last... How long until the awkwardness turned into resentment, the hesitant smiles into forced ones... How long until, everything breaks..." Tsugumi whispers, her hand on one side of the headphone.

They couple stood there for another moment, an awkward silence descending, Neither seemed to know how to end the encounter, both expecting the other to say something.

"...Tsk..." Tsugumi scuffs and turns away, walking towards Scramble Crossing.

Ao giggles, staring at the barriers in the distance. "T-chan? Come on T-chan! Where are you going? We still have time left... I mean, nothing else is happening around right now right?"

Suddenly the boy, in his eagerness, misread the girl's shy smile. "You look so... quiet," he blurted out, trying to make conversation, "Are you always like that?"

The girl's fragile smile vanished. Her eyes hardened, "What's wrong with being quiet?" she retorted, her voice suddenly sharp, defensive. "Are you saying I'm boring?"

The boy's face fell. "No! No, I didn't mean that! I just meant, um... you know... sometimes it's nice to talk more. That's all." His own nervousness transformed into a subtle irritation. "It's hard when you don't say much."

"Oh, so it's my fault now?" she snapped, her embarrassment quickly turning to anger. "You haven't said much too!"

"Me!?" he shot back, his voice rising, his own frustration bubbling over. "I'm trying here! You're the one who just says 'um' all the time!"

"Disgusting..." Tsugumi hisses a little and closes her eyes, clutching Mr. Mew tight.

"Eh!? Why did they suddenly became so aggressive? I-i don't get it-" Ao steps back a little, shocked by the sudden turn of events by those two. "Why are they mad at each other now!?"

Their budding connection curdled into antagonism. Their auras, which had been a soft, hopeful blue, now flared with angry red swirling around them like visible manifestations of their escalating hostility towards each other. 

From these clashing emotional energies, strange symbols began to shimmer into existence around them Noise Tags, forming a palpable aura of negativity and discord.

"AH!!! I-i get it now! T-chan! T-chan! See?!" Ao exclaimed, her voice strained ask she points to the couple. "Mission update!" She pointed at her phone, "ERASE THE NOISE 'TOGETHER' OR FACE ERASURE." But this time, the Noise it's the negative emotions, look! Their arguing had just manifested into these Noise thingies!"

Ao's eyes widened, comprehending the mission. She looked at Tsugumi, then back at the feuding couple. "The world isn't just what you can see," Ao murmured, her voice almost reverent, a distant echo of her old partner's words. "It's what you can feel."

"..." Tsugumi's blood ran cold a little.

"The mission," Tsugumi finally said, her voice quiet, almost hollow. "It's not just about what they want you to do for yourself." Her eyes met Ao's, a new, unsettling depth in their gaze. "They created, that Noise together..."

Before Tsugumi could process fully, Ao pushed her squarely in the back. "Come on, T-chan! We gotta fix this!" she exclaimed, her voice firm, dragging Tsugumi towards the now-openly squabbling couple with a strong grip on her arm.

"...!" Tsugumi takes her hand, pressing her arm with a tight painful grip.

"Come on! T-chan! Move up!" Ao hisses, ignoring Tsugumi's tight grip and dragging her anyways.

As they approached, Noise Tags swirled around the pair, And then, from inside hordes of Dixiefrogs emerged, landing right on front of the girls.

"Frogs..." Tsugumi snarled, her irritation rising up.

"This is it!" Ao shouted, "The Noise is coming from their fight! We have to clear it before they hurt themselves, or us!"

"...I should take their life's before they keep generating more Noise but they can't be touched... I wonder..." Tsugumi rubs her chin.

"T-chan! Take the lead!" Ao says determined, her fists tight.

"Nuisance..." Tsugumi whispers, her gaze turning to the frogs.

The Dixiefrogs lunged towards them and Tsugumi and Ao quickly split up from left to right.

(𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑶 𝑺𝑼𝑷𝑬𝑹 𝑩𝑶𝑵 𝑩𝑶𝑵 𝑩𝒀 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑳 𝑪𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑰𝑳𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑫𝑶𝑵𝑻 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑮𝑬𝑻 𝑻𝑶 𝑷𝑼𝑻 𝑰𝑻 𝑶𝑵 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑷) ∇∇∇

Amidst the surging horde of Dixiefrogs, Flames erupted from Ao's hands in roaring trails of blistering heat, incinerating the closest creatures before she swept her arms into a sustained flamethrower blast that scorched the pavement. "Hey, T-chan, let's time our hits together!" she laughed, throwing an enthusiastic look at her partner. "If we fight properly together, we will take them out no time!"

"...Left..." Tsugumi steps to the left, a Dixiefrog lunging past her. With the Shockwave Pin, her hands lashed around like sharp blades and casually stabbed the frog, throwing it away.

"Wow! They are getting annoying! We gotta step up our game!" Ao smirks, "Fire up!" She rises her hand, blocking a few Dixiefrogs in a circle of fire.

More Dixiefrogs tried to approach Tsugumi, she dodges then and kicks them away, flying straight toward Ao.

"Whoa! There they go!" Ao gasped, burning the upcoming frogs with a burst of fire. "You're clearing a path, right? Got it!"

The couple continued their argument, their voices escalating into insults. The Noise Tags around them pulsed faster, brighter, continuously spawning new Dixiefrogs.

"...More... There must be a way to take those two out..." Tsugumi muttered coldly over the din and then dashed right towards the couple.

"T-chan?" Ao turns to Tsugumi, seeing her sprinting.

As Tsugumi approaches, the Dixiefrogs stop her from reaching the couple, blocking her path and jumping towards her, Tsugumi quickly swifts to the side, slashing the closest frogs away and hissing. "...It must be the answer... Taking those two out...!"

Ao jumps right besides Tsugumi, rising her hand and burning the fallen frogs. "Following your lead!"

Tsugumi positioned herself between Ao and the waves of Dixiefrogs, lashing out with continuous shockwave cuts. Each push sent the creatures tumbling and sliced them open, unleashing rolling waves of fire and shot flames at the frogs.

One Dixiefrog launched a series of iridescent bubbles. They sailed through the air, slow but deadly. Tsugumi reacted instinctively with precision, spinning to fire off multiple shockwave blades to intercept and pop them as she kept moving.

More frogs jump towards them, Ao rises her hand, blocking them with a wall of flames and sending them stumbling.

"They're coming from everywhere!" Ao yelled, a hint of desperation in her voice. She took a vicious blow to her arm, sending a jolt of pain through her. "Ugh! You stupid frog!" Ao hisses and burns the frog.

Tsugumi keeps her gaze around, moving through the few frogs that were left. She unleashed a sharp shockwave sweep that cleared the Dixiefrogs that were following her.

"Ah... They really hit hard..." Ao gasped, clutching her arm. "We need to synchronize, T-chan, I really don't get what's the plan of yours."

Tsugumi scanned the Noise Tags and then the Dixiefrogs, her mind racing with her own internal calculation. "...There is a clear opening," Tsugumi realized, sprinting right away. "...Follow."

"Running? How is that going to help!?" Ao cried, narrowly dodging a lunge from a Dixiefrog. "Hey! Give me a break you ugly frog!"

"Move it! You idiot! Distract!" Tsugumi barked, her eyes sharp and determined.

Ao despite her pain, nodded. "Got it! Leave it to me!" She took a deep breath and then unleashed a concentrated stream of flames, running around alongside Tsugumi so the Dixiefrogs couldn't breathe, burning the perimeter of their formation. "Aaaahhhhh!!!!"

Overwhelmed, the Dixiefrogs channel their attacks towards her, sending streams of bubble all around her.

"Gah! They are all super mad now!" Ao hisses, rising her hand and spinning around, creating a ring of fire that pops the bubbles away.

The frogs continue their assault, moving closer and closer.

"Gahhh! They teamed all up against me! T-chan! Help!" Ao spins around more as Tsugumi was nowhere to be seen amidst the battlefield. "Hnnhhhh!!!" Ao grints her teeth, shutting her eyes tight.

"T-chan!!!!" Ao shouts, her head arching and her flames disappearing.

Seizing the opportunity of her own plan, Tsugumi jumps right up pass Ao, Ao's eyes wide open as she turns her gaze in air. "Wha-!?"

The Dixiefrogs that where following Tsugumi slam into the ones that were attacking Ao.

Tsugumi dives towards the discussing couple, the Noise Tags around them twirling and twisting quickly.

"...!" Tsugumi eyes wide in intensity, rising her blade-like arm wide and then delivering a powerful slash slamming down at the Noise Tags roaming around.

The effect was instantaneous, The Noise Tag shimmered violently, then imploded like a balloon bursting, sending a ripple of discomfort through the surrounding Noise. The Dixiefrogs let out a collective, pained croak and their movements faltering.

"It worked!" Ao cheered, looking up at Tsugumi. "T-chan! You did it! You blasted their bad vibes!"

The two remaining Dixiefrogs shoot towards Tsugumi, sending bubbles to take her down.

"T-chan! Be careful!!!" Ao shouts, quickly moving towards the frogs.

"...Quiet!" Tsugumi spins around like a blade, deflecting the bubbles away and stomps on the frogs with both of her feet, landing right on top of them and sending a loud dust smoke around the field.

"Ah!" Ao hisses, turning her gaze away and protecting her face.

After a few seconds, she turns her gaze back to Tsugumi, seeing her cleaning her shoes with a napkin.

"Woah..." Ao whispers, her eyes wide in awe. "She just..."

...

The boy and girl's argument abruptly cut off, stood facing each other, their faces still flushed with anger, but now also confusion. They looked around, as if dimly aware that something happen.

"...Eh...?"

"Ah...I-I don't know what bug that just bite me... sorry, I don't have the right to judge you like that." The boy looks away flushed.

"Y-you don't have to say sorry, I just overreact easily, sorry for ruining the day..." The girl blushes with a small smile.

The boy blushes grabbing her hands slowly. "No! I mean-... you made my day just... amazing, we went on places that I never was before, saw things that I never saw before... Hehe... thanks a bunch... I like you Yumi... Really" He sighs. "I ruined everything didn't I?"

"No! I-I mean... you didn't... really..." The girl smiles and nods with a blushing even more. "I like you too, Takeshi..."

Ao, panting, slumped against the Hachiko statue, a wide, triumphant grin slowly spreading across her dirt-smudged face. "We did it! WOOOOOO!" she crowed, "We totally wiped 'em out! And we saved their relationship! Mostly!"

Tsugumi stood there, her body aching with fatigue, she sighs and puts the dirty napkin on the trashcan.

She looked at Ao, who was still grinning at the couple, "The world isn't just what you can see..." She closes her eyes, hugging Mr. Mew tight. "...It also shows how pathetic they are..."

As the last of the couple's strained apologies faded into the general city hum, the sudden silence that followed was broken by an unexpected sound. A soft, simultaneous thud. 

"..."

(𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑷 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑴𝑼𝑺𝑰𝑪)

Without warning, both Ao and Tsugumi crumpled to the ground, as if their invisible strings had been cut, both now laying unconscious on the bustling pavement of Scramble Crossing.

...

As the girls lay there, a tall figure approaches, crossing their arm and observing the two.

"Bounds..." The figure whispers. 

"...They are... a... punishment..." He turns away, leaving the then there.

                                            To Be Continued.....