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 cheerful counterpoint to Tsugumi's rigid silence, she added another piece to the perplexing puzzle of their new reality. "Oh! And guess what else?" Ao chirped, oblivious to Tsugumi's palpable irritation. "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. The mention of "spooky" and the casual nudge were the last straw. Her patience, already razor-thin, snapped. Her hand shot out, grabbing Ao's collar once more, lifting her off her feet with a surprising surge of strength. "How do you know so much about this?" Tsugumi demanded, her voice a low growl, her eyes narrowed to icy slits. "Who told you all of this? If you are involved on all this you will regret"

Ao giggled, a nervous, high-pitched sound, before her cheerful facade wavered, giving way to a flicker of genuine sadness. "Woah, easy, T-chan! Okay, okay, I'll tell you." She took a deep breath. "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, a somber note in place of her usual exuberance. "He... he got erased."

Tsugumi's grip on Ao's collar loosened as she processed the grim information. So, Ao had been through this before. She had lost a partner. The revelation humanized the overly cheerful girl in a way Tsugumi hadn't expected, a brief flash of shared experience cutting through her annoyance. She set Ao down, her expression still unreadable, but the raw anger had receded.

"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, then added, almost as an afterthought, "And yeah, he also said the Player Pin lets you 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, the information settling like lead in her stomach. Noise. Erasure. A lost partner. It was all so much, and the cheerful exterior of Ao was clearly a shield. Ao frowned, a rare sight on her usually bright face, but despite Tsugumi's accelerated pace, she kept up, stubborn and insistent.

Their path eventually led them back to the center of Scramble Crossing. Tsugumi reached the invisible barrier that had earlier confined her. The frustrating, intangible wall was still there. A surge of primal anger, a release of the tension that had been building inside her, broke through her stoic composure. "Out of my way!" she practically growled. She channeled all her frustration, all her burgeoning power, through the **Shockwave** pin. With a raw war cry, she slammed her hand against the unseen barrier, unleashing a concentrated blast of pure energy.

The Shockwave hit the invisible wall like a blade, shearing through it. There was no sound, no visible impact, but a clear, distinct path opened up, a momentary breach in the unseen confinement.

Ao's eyes widened, then she dissolved into giggles. "Whoa! You really *are* a fast learner, T-chan! That was awesome!"

Tsugumi ignored the praise, her gaze fixed on the newly opened path. The barrier was broken. An exit. She stepped through the momentary gap, her silhouette framed by the perpetual daylight of the Reaper's Game. Ao sighed, a sound of resignation mixed with a hint of admiration, and followed her, a vibrant splash of color against Tsugumi's muted tones, into the labyrinthine streets of Shibuya. Tsugumi was still searching for answers, and Ao was clearly not letting her go.

...!

Just as Tsugumi stepped through the shattered barrier, a shimmering distortion in the air behind them signaled its return. The invisible wall, severed moments ago by Tsugumi's powerful **Shockwave**, coalesced back into being, solid and unyielding. They were once again trapped within Scramble Crossing.

Ao stopped beside Tsugumi, her usual bubbly demeanor momentarily replaced by wide-eyed astonishment. "Whoa! It just... put itself back together! That's insane! I've never seen anyone break one of those before, not even on day one!" She then bounced slightly, a cheeky grin spreading across her face. "Man, T-chan, you've got a *lot* of pent-up anger, don't you? Maybe you need Dr. Ao to talk about your feelings! It's super unhealthy to keep it all bottled up, you know!~"

Tsugumi's eye twitched. The persistent barrier, combined with Ao's incessant teasing, ignited a fresh surge of fury within her. Her face hardened, a mask of pure irritation. She spun back towards the invisible wall, clutching her **Shockwave** pin. "Shut up!" she hissed, channeling her rage into her Psych. She unleashed a torrent of **Shockwaves**, striking the barrier over and over again. Each blast tore through the unseen wall, momentarily shattering it, but just as quickly, the shimmering distortion would reappear, stitching the barrier back into place.

The air crackled with the raw energy of Tsugumi's relentless assault. She punched, kicked, and slammed her invisible force against the regenerating wall, her movements driven by a furious, almost desperate, need to escape. The repeated impacts reverberated through her hand, fists and foot over and over again, a dull ache that only fueled her anger. This was an insult. A blatant defiance of her power.

Ao watched, a mixture of awe and concern on her face. "T-chan, whoa, easy! You're gonna wear yourself out! It's like, a game mechanic or something! We can't just brute force it!" Her voice was less teasing now, laced with genuine worry.

Ao sighed, shaking her head. Tsugumi was clearly too stubborn to listen to reason. Ao scanned Scramble Crossing, her gaze lingering on the oblivious humans rushing past. Then, she pulled out her phone, a sleek, trendy model adorned with charms. After a few taps, she frowned. "Huh, that's weird."

"What?" Tsugumi snapped, her voice still laced with frustration as she momentarily paused her futile assault on the barrier.

Ao showed her the phone screen. A message, stark and simple, was displayed: 

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 sighs and then gives up on trying to use brute force, she had to at least thing, after a second she looks to her hand, and surprisely the strange timer was once more ticking. "The timer is still on."

Ao gasps, the timer was tickling again, for some reason "Ah!? I-i didn't knew about this!"

As Ao's gaze swept across the crossing once more, something caught her attention. Near the edge of the barrier, several figures stood motionless, almost unnaturally still amidst the bustling crowd. They were all men, atleast they looked like one, and their appearance was strikingly uniform: 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. Each carried a camouflage patterned satchel, and most had their hands buried in their hoodie pockets.

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

Tsugumi followed Ao's gaze. The men in the shadowed hoodies stood at the edge of the invisible barrier, unmoving. Their stillness was unnerving, their faces hidden, yet Tsugumi felt an odd prickle at the back of her neck, a familiar sense of being watched. She had seen their kind before, when she wake up of this nightmare she end up being, figures that hinted at a layer of reality she could never quite grasp somehow. Now, they were undeniably present, silent sentinels at the edge of their unseen cage.

"Who are they?" Tsugumi asked, her voice flat while holding Mr. Mew a little harder, she hated to interact with this Ao...it was annoying to need help. "Are they... involved in this 'Game'?"

Ao shivered again. "I don't know exactly who they are, but my last partner called them 'Game Masters,' or something. They're the ones who set the rules, I think. And they just... watch. Like, all the time." She glanced at Tsugumi nervously. "They look... dangerous. 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." Her mind, ever analytical, sought to understand their role. If they ran the game, they held the answers.

"But why is the mission still there?" 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, as if the repetition would somehow reveal a hidden meaning. "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?"

Tsugumi finally tore her gaze from the mysterious figures. Ao's incessant questions were irritating, but her observation about the mission being unchanged was valid. If "together" simply meant cooperative combat, the barrier should have dissipated. There was another layer to this. "Don't be silly..." Tsugumi looks away a little, thinking to herself.

"What else did your last partner learn about missions?" Tsugumi asked, her voice clipped. "Anything about how to 'clear' them beyond just fighting?" She then added, a new thought sparking, "Use the Player Pin or whatever...to hear what they are thinking" She pointed towards the shadowy men.

Ao hesitated, then shrugged. "I can try! 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. Nothing happened. "Nope," she said, frowning. "Just regular people. Or... whatever they are. Can't scan them."

Tsugumi pressed her lips into a thin line. So, these "Game Masters" were immune to their basic abilities. Another dead end. "The girl is even more useless than this damn pin...tsk" Tsugumi sighs, looking away while losing herself on her 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 thought resonated with Tsugumi. The ability to hear thoughts, to perceive the undercurrents of the city - perhaps that was the key. Not just to survive the physical threats, but to understand the rules of this elaborate deception. "Are you more than just a lore dropper? Pfft...you damn NPC..." 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 unchanging landscape of Scramble Crossing, the omnipresent noise of the crowd, the looming, silent figures. "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 Dixiefrogs' blows. "What do we do? There is no we, you stranger!" Tsugumi sighs, keeping her thoughts to herself, she still needed her for maybe bait if something really bad happens. 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, worries about work. But buried within the constant stream, she strained to hear something else, something unusual, something that deviated from the norm.

"Listen," Tsugumi commanded, her voice barely a whisper. She tightened her grip on her Player Pin, focusing on the influx of thoughts, trying to filter out the noise. "There has to be something. Something different."

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

"No, idiot...*sighs* "Listen," Tsugumi said, a plan beginning to form. "The mission isn't just about erasing the Noise. It's about changing something here. Something in Shibuya's mindset." She looked at Ao. "We can hear their thoughts. We can perceive their emotions. What if... 'together' means we have to somehow *influence* them?"

Ao's eyes widened. "Influence them? How? Like, make them happy? Or sad? That sounds even harder than fighting Dixiefrogs!"

"No, use your braincells for once," Tsugumi countered, a spark of calculated determination in her eyes. "Not just any emotion. It's specific. Doubt. And hope. And it's focused on something specific here." She gestured vaguely around. "We need to figure out what."

As they continued to observe, Tsugumi focused on the strongest emotional surges, trying to triangulate their source. Her gaze was drawn to a girl sitting on a bench.

Then, a new thought, clearer this time, echoed through her mind, emanating from the girl: "*...the legend of the Statue of Shibuya... wish it were true...*"

Tsugumi's eyes snapped to Hachiko, where they had just fought for their lives. The legendary loyal dog. A symbol of Shibuya. And then she looked back at the girl. Could it be connected?

"The Statue of Hachiko," Tsugumi stated, a new clarity entering her voice. "The legend."

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, now stop asking me questions" Tsugumi frowns annoyed with being the only one doing something. She then looks away analizing what she knew now.

The Game Masters, with their enigmatic presence, were setting a test not of strength, but of connection. "Together," she realized, meant to connect with Shibuya itself, to follow the clues to the place where they need on order to complete the mission. And how people could be a way to understand those missions.

Ao stared at her, then at the bustling crowd, then back at the ominous figures by the barrier. "Okay," she said, a new seriousness in her voice. "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.

Tsugumi didn't return the smile, Ao sure wasn't only slow but also a nuisance... it was annoying...

The lingering scent of ozone and the phantom ache of the battle still clung to Tsugumi, but the immediate threat had dissipated. Now, the overwhelming irritation of the human element of Scramble Crossing returned with full force. Her gaze, however, was drawn not to the chaotic flow of the crowd, but to a small eddy of awkwardness near the **Hachiko** as they reach there. A young couple stood there, radiating palpable nervousness, their body language a symphony of timid glances and averted eyes.

The boy, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, risked a quick glance at the girl. "The weather looks, um... nice, right?" he mumbled, his voice barely audible above the city's hum.

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."

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

Tsugumi rolled her eyes, a sigh escaping her nonexistent lungs. Couples. Friends. The very concepts grated on her. The manufactured happiness, the forced intimacy, the inevitable disappointments. She hated it all. This scene, so utterly mundane and saccharine, was precisely the kind of saccharine sweetness she detested. She wanted to look away, to be anywhere but within earshot of their clumsy attempts at connection. "Hey, let's get out of here"

"Ah come on T-chan, let's watch them for a sec and after we can go right away! I promise!" Ao smiles widely, it was so cute to see a couple developing their love like that.

But Ao, oblivious to Tsugumi's profound disdain, remained utterly engrossed, her cheerful aura practically vibrating with vicarious excitement. She leaned in, trying to catch every word of the painfully slow conversation.

The boy cleared his throat, shifting his weight. "So, um... have you, um... been to Shibuya 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, relief palpable in his voice at her coherent answer. "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 Shibuya 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 silently together. "They're totally into each other! So obvious!" she whispered to Tsugumi, who remained unmoving, a statue of simmering annoyance.

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. "Shibuya's 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 remained stoic, but the sight of the girl's small, genuine smile, the way a sliver of her true self broke through her bashfulness, was almost... disarming. Almost. But then the familiar wave of cynicism returned. How long would this fragile connection last? How long until the awkwardness turned into resentment, the hesitant smiles into forced ones? She had seen it countless times. "I just want to get out of here...how I hate this jerk....urgh, I can't go on my own unfortunately....this sucks." Tsugumi looks away, unimpressed or unamused by the interaction she was forced to listen.

They stood there for another moment, an awkward silence descending, punctuated only by the distant city sounds. Neither seemed to know how to end the encounter, both clearly overwhelmed by the tiny success of their first, tentative steps towards connection.

Tsugumi then snaps, now annoyed by the awkward interaction. "I had enough of this, do you realize we have a timer? This isn't time for a damn soap opera!"

Ao giggles just not caring about Tsugumi's explosive personality at all. "Come on T-chan. We still have time left...I mean, anything else is happening around right now right?"

Suddenly as Tsugumi was about to talk, a subtle shift occurred. The boy, in his eagerness, misread the girl's shy smile. "You look so... quiet," he blurted out, trying to make conversation, his voice a little too loud. "Are you always like that?"

The girl's fragile smile vanished. Her eyes hardened, and the brief connection shattered. "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. "Maybe you're just not good at conversation!"

"I am too!" 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!"

"This is just dumb...." Tsugumi hisses a little and turns back.

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

Their budding connection curdled into instant antagonism. Their auras, which had been a soft, hopeful blue, now flared with angry red and sickly green, swirling around them like visible manifestations of their escalating animosity. From these clashing emotional energies, strange, geometric symbols began to shimmer into existence around them - **Noise Tags**, forming a palpable aura of negativity and discord.

"I-i get it now! See?!" Ao exclaimed, her voice strained. "Mission update!" She pointed at her phone. The message was indeed still there: "ERASE THE NOISE 'TOGETHER' OR FACE ERASURE." But this time, the Noise wasn't just the Dixiefrogs. It was the negative emotions, the very discord between the couple that had just manifested into these new, visible **Noise Tags**.

Ao's eyes widened, a dawning comprehension replacing her usual cheerfulness. 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. She stared at the couple, at the palpable aura of their ruined connection, at the visible **Noise Tags** swirling around them. Then, her gaze snapped to Ao, and finally, a terrifying, undeniable truth clicked into place. "Tsk, finally something is happening."

The mission. "ERASE THE NOISE 'TOGETHER'." The "Noise" wasn't just the literal monsters. It was the discordant emotions, the friction, the negativity that festered between people. And "together"... it wasn't just about battling creatures. It was about **harmony**. About **understanding**. About **connection** around that couple.

And then, the ultimate, chilling realization: If the couple's inability to connect created Noise, if their internal friction manifested into tangible obstacles...its influence was way stronger around Shibuya than they thought.

"The mission," Tsugumi finally said, her voice quiet, almost hollow. "It's not just about what they want *us* to do for *ourselves* Tsk." Her eyes met Ao's, a new, unsettling depth in their gaze. "It's about what *we* have to do for them." She looked at the swirling **Noise Tags** around the now-arguing couple. The world truly wasn't just what you could see. It was what you could feel. And right now, what she felt was the terrifying realization that their very survival depended on their ability to overcome their own "Noise" their own profound differences and truly become "together." "Grr...this is pathetic, a waist of time."

Before Tsugumi could process this unsettling revelation fully, Ao, with a sudden burst of energy, pushed her squarely in the back. "Come on, T-chan! We gotta fix this!" she exclaimed, her voice firm, no longer just cheerful. She practically dragged Tsugumi towards the now-openly squabbling couple with a strong grip on her arm.

"Urgh stop grabbing me! I can walk on my own!" Tsugumi slaps her hand away from her arm but Ao kept pushing without bothering.

As they approached, the air crackled with a malevolent energy. The **Noise Tags**, swirling like miniature vortexes around the bickering pair, pulsed violently. And then, from their shadowy depths, grotesque forms began to coalesce. Hordes of **Dixiefrogs** emerged, their slick, green bodies materializing from the couple's escalating animosity, their yellow eyes fixed on Tsugumi and Ao.

"Frogs..." Tsugumi snarled, her irritation momentarily rising up. She hated this. She hated being forced into proximity with people, especially when those people were actively generating literal monsters.

"This is it!" Ao shouted, her Pyrokinesis pin glowing fiercely in her hand. "The Noise is coming from their fight! We have to clear it before they hurt themselves, or us!"

The Dixiefrogs lunged, a wave of emerald green and predatory intent. The battle for Day 1 wasn't over; it had just taken on a terrifying new dimension.

Ao, ever the aggressor, met the first wave head-on. Flames erupted from her hands, a torrent of blistering heat that incinerated the closest Dixiefrogs, their forms dissolving into plumes of acrid smoke. She moved with a frenetic energy, a whirlwind of kicks and fiery blasts, her movements precise and powerful. But the sheer numbers were overwhelming. Dixiefrogs darted between her attacks, their blue-tattooed legs propelling them with surprising speed. One managed to land a brutal kick to her side, sending her stumbling back with a cry of pain. "Urgh!"

"Hey!" Tsugumi yelled already in motion. She unleashed a powerful **Shockwave**, a concussive slash that slammed into the Dixiefrog that had struck Ao, sending it reeling. The force rippled through the surrounding Noise, scattering several other creatures. Tsugumi followed up with a rapid succession of pushes, carving a momentary path through the encroaching horde. "Focus!"

"Thanks, T-chan!" Ao panted, already recovering, a fiery aura shimmering around her. "These guys are mad! Their feelings are really going wild!"

The couple, oblivious to the monstrous battle raging around them, continued their argument, their voices escalating into sharp, biting insults. The **Noise Tags** around them pulsed faster, brighter, continuously spawning new Dixiefrogs. It was a vicious cycle: their conflict fueled the Noise, and the Noise attacked the Players trying to quell it.

"Don't mess up!" Tsugumi shouted over the din, her voice cutting through the sounds of combat.

Ao nodded grimly. "Got it! Cover me!"

Tsugumi became a shield of pure force. She positioned herself between Ao and the thickest waves of Dixiefrogs, unleashing a continuous slashes of **Shockwaves**. Each push sent the creatures tumbling or cut them, buying Ao precious seconds to charge her **Pyrokinesis**. Ao, meanwhile, focused her flames, not just on individual Dixiefrogs, but on larger groups, trying to thin their numbers. She targeted the **Dixiefrogs** directly, her fire flickering against their shimmering surfaces, but they only pulsed faster, unaffected by the direct damage.

One particularly large Dixiefrog, its yellow eyes glowing with malevolent intent, launched a series of iridescent bubbles. They sailed through the air, slow but deadly. Tsugumi reacted instinctively, her movements precise. She spun, firing off multiple **Shockwaves** to intercept the bubbles, deflecting them harmlessly away from Ao and herself. The ground behind them rippled and dissolved where a few stray bubbles hit, a stark reminder of the stakes.

"They're coming from everywhere!" Ao yelled, a hint of desperation entering her voice. She took a vicious blow to her arm, sending a jolt of pain through her. Her aura flickered, momentarily dimming.

"Focus!" Tsugumi commanded, her voice surprisingly steady. She unleashed a powerful **Shockwave** that swept away the Dixiefrogs overwhelming Ao, giving her partner a much-needed reprieve. Tsugumi herself felt the strain. The continuous exertion of her Psych, coupled with the subtle drain from being in this reality, was making her spectral form ache.

"They're not just about physical damage!" Ao gasped, clutching her arm. "We need to synchronize!"

Tsugumi scanned the Noise Tags and then the Dixiefrogs, her mind racing. "We have to speed up" Tsugumi realized, the truth hitting her with chilling clarity. "Speed up!"

"How that getting quickly will help us out?" Ao cried, narrowly dodging a lunge from a Dixiefrog.

"Distraction!" Tsugumi barked. "We have to hit them then they are trying to target us" She pointed towards the girl's side of the couple, where the **Noise Tags** seemed particularly dense. "Don't be a slug, clear!? Move!"

Ao, despite her pain, nodded. "Got it! Leave it to me!" She took a deep breath, and her fiery aura intensified. She unleashed a concentrated stream of flames, not on place, Ao runs around along Tsugumi don't letting the Dixiefrogs breathe, as she hits them with fire around their formation.

Seizing the opportunity, Tsugumi darted forward, phasing through the periphery of the couple's argument. She raised her **Shockwave** pin, and jump up sending a powerful slash and slamming down at the Dixiefrogs and the Noise Tags roaming around.

The effect was instantaneous and unexpected. 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, their movements faltering.

"It worked!" Ao cheered, renewed hope in her voice. "You blasted their bad vibes!"

But the other **Noise Tags** still pulsed, and new Dixiefrogs continued to spawn, albeit at a slightly slower rate. The couple, caught in their own emotional whirlwind, barely registered the battle, though their furious exchange continued unabated.

Tsugumi needed to be precise. The **Shockwave** was effective, but it required her focus, and the Dixiefrogs were relentless. She needed to pick her moments, coordinating with Ao.

"Their attention is at us!" Tsugumi shouted, her voice tight with strain. "We have to break that focus! We need to make them look somewhere else!"

Ao understood immediately. "Okay, T-chan! Incoming distraction!" She launched a volley of quick, flashy fireballs that arced high over the couple's heads, exploding harmlessly against a distant building, but drawing the gaze of several passersby. The sudden spectacle caused the Dixiefrogs to momentarily pause their attacks, their heads instinctively turning towards the commotion.

That was their chance. "Now!" Tsugumi yelled.

She darted between them, unleashing a series of rapid-fire **Shockwaves**, targeting the remaining **Noise Tags** with ruthless efficiency. The tags burst, one after another, each implosion sending a fresh ripple of pain through the Dixiefrog horde. The creatures staggered, their movements becoming more erratic, less coordinated.

As the last few **Noise Tags** imploded, the source of the Noise began to diminish. The constant flow of newly spawned Dixiefrogs slowed, then ceased entirely. The remaining Dixiefrogs, weakened and disoriented by the loss of their emotional anchors, became easier targets.

Ao, with a triumphant roar, unleashed a final, sweeping wave of fire that consumed the last of the Dixiefrogs, leaving only wisps of smoke and the scarred pavement behind. The battlefield fell silent, save for the distant hum of the city and the lingering, awkward silence between the couple. "Ahhh! Haaa!" Ao lands on her feet as the smoke settle down.

The boy and girl, their 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 profound had just transpired, but utterly unable to grasp the invisible war that had been fought for their emotional well-being. The **Noise Tags** were gone.

"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 easly, 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...I like you Yumi"

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!" she crowed, her voice hoarse but still full of a ridiculous cheer. "We totally wiped 'em out! And we saved their relationship! Mostly!"

Tsugumi stood there, her body aching with fatigue, but a new understanding settling in her mind. This game wasn't about fighting monsters. It was about **Shibuya**. About the currents of human emotion that flowed through it, visible only to Players. The **Noise** wasn't just physical entities; it was the manifestation of negative human interactions, the emotional discord that poisoned the city.

She looked at Ao, who was still grinning at the couple, a profound sense of her partner's words echoing in her mind. "*The world isn't just what you can see, huh... I don't like the sound of it...*"

And she had done it. With Ao. The sheer irony of it, the unexpected partnership with the one person who embodied everything she usually avoided, was almost overwhelming. The Day 1 mission had been cleared by understanding the hidden **Noise** of the heart. The barrier was still up, but Tsugumi knew now it wasn't a prison. It was a test. And they had passed. Together.

As the last of the couple's strained apologies faded into the general city hum, and Tsugumi voiced her disdain for the entire saccharine display, the sudden, jarring silence that followed was broken by an unexpected sound. It was a soft, simultaneous thud. Without warning, both Ao and Tsugumi, as if their invisible strings had been cut, crumpled to the ground. Their forms, one vibrant and the other ethereal, seemed to deflate, and they lay unconscious on the bustling pavement of Scramble Crossing, two motionless figures amidst the indifferent throng.

                                            To Be Continued.....