Episode 1: Wh★ 2 L/sten (Part 1)

 

...

The world twisted, then dissolved into a blinding white. One moment, Tsugumi was screaming in the echoing underpass, the pain of Ao's erasure tearing through her. The next, she appeared in a blank place, an infinite expanse of stark, unsettling white. There were no walls, no ceiling, no floor that she could discern, only an endless, featureless void of nothingness. "Ao..." She whispered slowly.

Her expression was now lifeless. The fire of her rage had burned out, leaving only ash. The depth of her sadness had hollowed her out, leaving an empty shell. Ao was gone. Not just defeated, not just sent to another area, but truly, irrevocably gone. Erased. She word they were so afraid of.

The word echoed in her mind, a cold, mocking refrain. Erased. For what? For nothing. She had won. They had fought through impossible odds, had overcome the ultimate Game Master, and for what purpose? Ao was still gone. Her sacrifice, so selfless, so utterly Ao, seemed to have achieved nothing but Tsugumi's hollow, tortured survival.

A shiver, not of cold but of profound emptiness, ran through her. Her legs, which had just moments ago carried her through a brutal gauntlet, suddenly felt like lead. She stumbled forward a little, her balance wavering, before her knees gave out, and she sank onto the indifferent white ground, her dead eyes still staring blankly into the featureless expanse. The scream was gone. The tears were gone. Only the crushing weight of utter despair remained. "I... I..." Her eyes narrow.

A soft, almost theatrical sigh echoed in the boundless white. "Ah, ah, ah... destiny." The voice, smooth and deceptively gentle, sent a jolt through Tsugumi's deadened senses.

Her head snapped up, her eyes, previously blank, now blazing with a raw, terrifying rage. She saw him then a man, slender and strange, with an air of detached amusement, she couldn't see his face very well, she couldn't she how he was... it was all blur, But she could feel that it was him, Whatever he was, this was his fault. All of it. Ao's death, the Game, the crushing despair... it all stemmed from him, Tsugumi grints her tooths, pressing her fists on the ground.

The man sighed again, looking away with a faint, wry smile. "Honestly," he murmured, as if to himself, "the Composer gives me the most thankless tasks. People just hate me for doing my job." He turned back to Tsugumi, a slight bow. "My apologies for the melodrama. I am the Conductor, merely a server to the Composer. And, my sincere condolences on your... partner's erasure." The mock sincerity in his tone was a fresh insult, rubbing salt into her gaping wound.

Tsugumi remained on her knees, her gaze fixed on him, undiluted fury burning in her eyes. She didn't speak, didn't move, just stared, radiating an almost palpable hatred.

The Conductor sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Right. Well, since you're being so... expressive," he mused, "let's get down to business. You are currently in the void known as the Eden, the space between realms, the waiting room for the erased. And what you just did, my dear, was quite remarkable. You managed to overcome a Game Master. A truly formidable feat, I assure you." He paused, expecting a reaction. Tsugumi remained stone-faced, unmoving.

He gave a small, put-upon shrug. "Right. No response. Expected, I suppose. The mind needs time to process such... losses." He resumed. "You pushed past your limits, adapted to unprecedented threats, even performed a impressive show. You defeated Sato Magenta, Rynis Cantus, in his full Noise form. A spectacular performance, truly."

He clasped his hands together, a faint smile on his lips. "And yet, Miss Tsugumi..." he began, his voice taking on a lighter, almost gleeful tone, "...you didn't win the Game."

Tsugumi's eyes narrowed infinitesimally, the only break in her dead expression.

"How utterly funny, isn't it?" the Conductor continued, a soft laugh escaping him. "All that struggle, all that effort, all that agonizing emotion... and for naught. Because you see, my dear, you're alone. The rules are quite explicit. Two Players enter, two Players win. Or, in your case, two Players are supposed to win. Fufufufu~" His laughter grew, a brittle, chilling sound in the vast white space. "If only you could have predicted Rynis Cantus's dirty move, that final, desperate strike. If only you had anticipated that one last, spiteful act, you could have won. With your friend. But destiny... she can be so terribly sad, can't she? Weren't you suppose to be the logical one, the analytic one? Hum... Fufufufufufu..."

The laughter grated on Tsugumi's shattered nerves. "You...." It was the final straw. Her body, infused with a sudden, impossible surge of rage, moved. She rose swiftly, a blur of motion, her dead eyes flaring with a renewed, terrifying light. With a guttural sound that was almost a roar, she lunged forward. "YOU BASTARD!!!!!! GHRAAH!!!!"

Her head slammed into the Conductor's nose with brutal force, a sickening crunch echoing in the void. He stumbled back, a shocked gasp escaping him, a thin stream of scarlet blooming on his pristine white suit.

"GHRAA!!! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!" Before Tsugumi could follow up, to tear into him with the ferocity of a cornered animal, the Conductor merely raised a hand. An invisible, unyielding force slammed into Tsugumi, freezing her in place, trapping her mid-lunge. She strained against it, her muscles screaming, but she couldn't move. "GRHAAAAH!!!" Tsugumi tries to move, tries to get him, to catch him... But she couldn't...

The Conductor slowly wiped the blood from his nose with a delicate finger, his earlier amusement gone, replaced by a cold, calculating gaze. He sighed, a weary, almost put-upon sound, then chuckled, a low, humorless laugh. "Hum," he mused, looking at Tsugumi, trapped and shaking with suppressed fury, "Perhaps I was a little too bold with you. It wasn't funny, at all." He smiled, a thin, sharp line.

"GRHAAAAH!!! YOU ARE DEAD MEAT!!!!!" Tsugumi shouts, pushing herself harder, yet she still couldn't move, she still couldn't do anything.

-The Conductor sighed, a put-upon sound. "Oh dear, oh dear. What to do, what to do?" He rubbed his still-bleeding nose, a frown marring his otherwise composed features. "I lost a good man today. A pretty useful piece. Though, that last move of his wasn't very nice, was it? Such poor sportsmanship." He tutted, shaking his head.

He let his hand drop, and the invisible force holding Tsugumi vanished. She stumbled, collapsing to her knees, every muscle screaming in protest. "GRHAAAAH!!!!" Before she could even begin to push herself up, the Conductor's foot lashed out, a precise, calculated kick that sent her sprawling back onto the featureless white ground. "G-gah!" Pain flared through her already broken body, "U-urgh..." She holds her stomach, stumbling to get back up, she fails and knees down.

He sighed again, looking down at her, a hint of something unreadable in his eyes. "Well, I suppose I shall do something good for you," he murmured, his voice laced with a subtle mockery. "You had a few truly great moments in the Game, and you are, after all, the number one player on the board. It would be a shame to my reputation to simply erase you. A waste of potential. You would like revenge, no?" He laughed, a short, sharp sound.

He then knelt, bringing his hand up, and pressed his palm gently against Tsugumi's forehead. A searing jolt, like ice and fire, coursed through her. Tsugumi gasped, a low growl rumbling in her throat as a torrent of unfamiliar, yet undeniably hers, memories flooded her mind. The sheer volume of them, the raw emotion they carried, was an agonizing assault on her senses. "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

...

The world, as she remembered it, was a dull, muted grayscale. A life of quiet observation, of precise calculations, of deliberate distance. She had always been alone. Her apartment, neat to the point of sterility, held no warmth, no personal touches beyond the organized stacks of books on obscure theories and cold, hard data. Her work, a meticulous analysis of complex algorithms, offered no solace, only the satisfying click of facts falling into place. Every day was a precise, solitary routine. The faces of others blurred, their voices a distant hum. She was an outsider, a silent observer, shrouded in a self-imposed loneliness that had, over time, become her default state. There was no joy, no vibrant color in her existence, only the cold comfort of predictable patterns.

Then, a splash of chaotic, brilliant color burst into her monochrome world. Ao. She met her, somehow, somewhere, in the bustling labyrinth of Shibuya. Ao, with her boundless energy, her infectious laughter, her wild, unthinking optimism. Ao, who saw through Tsugumi's carefully constructed walls, who bypassed her logical defenses with sheer, unadulterated kindness. Ao, who wouldn't be pushed away. Ao, who insisted on friendship, on shared meals, on late-night conversations about meaningless topics that somehow filled the vast emptiness Tsugumi hadn't even realized was there.

Ao made her smile. A genuine smile, one that reached her eyes, loosening the tight knot in her chest. She found herself laughing, a foreign, joyous sound. She was happy. She was kind, in ways she hadn't known she could be. She was even, in those moments, cute, shedding the severe, unapproachable façade she had perfected over years of isolation. Ao was her friend. More than a friend. Her bestie. Her everything. The vibrant core of her newly colored world.

But then, the color drained away, leaving behind a blacker, more absolute void than before. Ao died. A sudden, senseless accident, a careless moment. Tsugumi had been there, a silent witness to the unmaking of her world. The loss was a physical blow, a gaping wound that refused to heal. The pain of losing her only and one true friend, the only one who had ever truly seen her, who had loved her without judgment, was unbearable. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't exist without that vibrant light. The silence that followed Ao's death was a deafening roar in her mind.

And so, she walked. To the bridge. The cold, dark waters below mirrored the emptiness within her. She stood there, the city lights a distant blur, the world meaningless without Ao. In a desperate, illogical hope, a flicker of that raw emotion Ao had awakened in her, she took a final step. She jumped. A desperate, irrational hope that somehow, in the afterlife, in whatever lay beyond, she would find her. She would find Ao.

Tsugumi gasped, the raw memories flooding her. Her eyes, wide with a mixture of terror and agonizing realization, finally saw her entire life laid bare. Her life. Her choices. Her death. "AO.... Y-Y-You have been always there... You were a part of me... Ao..." Tsugumi cries, her tears slowly falling on the ground. "Ao..."

The Conductor's laugh echoed, a cold, brittle sound in the boundless white. "They really did find each other in the afterlife, didn't they? How... pleasant." He sighed dramatically, rubbing his eyes as if genuinely fatigued. "Now that you know what you need, what to do with you... what to do..."

He turned to Tsugumi, still on the ground, overwhelmed by the torrent of returned memories. He roughly grabbed her by the collar, hoisting her up just enough to look her in the eye, then, with a contemptuous laugh, flung her away, sending her sprawling across the white expanse. "Gah!" Tsugumi landed with a pained groan, her body aching, her heart clenching with the vivid, fresh sorrow of Ao's death and her own, so closely intertwined. "Y-Y-You monster..."

The Conductor adjusted his immaculate suit, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Give her another chance... perhaps interesting." He sighed, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of countless decisions. Then, with a sudden, decisive motion, he raised his hand toward Tsugumi.

A blinding flash erupted, engulfing her. "Ghrraah!!!" Tsugumi gasped, a sharp, ragged sound as an unimaginable force tore through her very being. Her head snapped back, a silent scream caught in her throat. Something inside her was being ripped apart. The memories flooded back, but not just the pain but also things that she used to feel before.

When the light faded, Tsugumi gasped, her form wracked with tremors. "What did...what did you do to me?!" The raw, unfiltered pain of her suicide, the crushing weight of losing Ao, struck her with renewed, searing intensity. 

"This was your old ticket into the Reaper's Game, the desperate act that led you here. You can have them back." The Conductor said.

The Conductor sighed, then chuckled, a low, malicious sound. "But you know? To truly ensure... chaos." He raised his hand again, and another flash of blinding light enveloped Tsugumi.

This time, the sensation was different. Not a tearing, but a splitting. "Aaahhhhhh!!!!" Tsugumi cried out, her body seemingly stretching, then snapping. When the light subsided, she found herself... fractured. Something was happening inside her. "M-my head... It... It hurts... Gahh!!"

"There," the Conductor stated, a triumphant smile spreading across his face. "Now I have precisely what I wanted. Chaos." He gazed at her, a pleased glint in his eye. "How will everything you lost deal with what you have got remaining? Fufufufufufu..."

"Y-you... You... MONSTER!" Tsugumi stumbles, holding her head, the pain was unbearable. "Ghrraah!!!"

With a final, dismissive kick, he sent her tumbling. "Gah...." Tsugumi fell backward into the featureless void, groaning as her body twisted and then suddenly Everything went silent.

...

(𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑶 𝑺𝑶𝑰𝑨 - 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑪𝑨𝑵 𝑺𝑨𝒀 𝑯𝑰 𝑾𝑯𝑰𝑳𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑷𝑼𝑻 𝑰𝑻 𝑶𝑵 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑷)∇∇∇

The morning glow of Scramble Crossing felt like a physical assault, amplifying the splitting pain in Tsugumi's head. As she forced herself to stand, clutching the comforting cold of a Player Pin on her hand, a violent, internal seizure began. It wasn't a thought, it was a voice, her own, but twisted, strange, and involuntary, slamming out of her mouth before she could stop it.

She had barely pushed off the ground when a harsh, analytical tone ripped from her throat, sharp and devoid of emotion as she spoke.

"So, this is it, then. Back to the start. How predictable."

Tsugumi gasped, her hands flying instantly to her temples, her vision tunneling into a blinding white spot. The words, spoken in a voice that was hers yet devoid of her current exhaustion, felt like being stabbed from the inside out. She stumbled, clutching the railing.

"What… what am I doing?" she says, the internal query already weak and panicked. The pain intensified, triggering a fierce wave of nausea. "Ghrraah..."

Before she could form another coherent thought, a cold, dry, dismissive rasp forced itself through her clenched jaw and she added. "Doing? We're existing, aren't we? Or perhaps you'd prefer to simply lie there and wallow in self-pity? Your choice. We're already here. Might as well make the most of it."

Tsugumi doubled over, gagging violently, the metallic taste of bile rising in her throat. She gripped her stomach, dry-heaving onto the invisible concrete. "Who is there!?" She looks around.

She spoke again, her voice straining against the invisible force, her usual tone breaking through briefly. "I—I need to stop! What is this!? Ao… Ao is gone! I have to... I have to...."

But the harsh, cold voice immediately seized control, the sudden shift in tone sounding like a cynical mimicry of her grief "Self-pity? She is gone, That's precisely why we cannot afford to be sentimental. Sentiment leads to weakness. Weakness leads to erasure."

"Ghrraah!!!!!" Tsugumi cried out, clapping a hand over her mouth, desperately trying to physically smother the words. Her eyes were wide with a horrible, dawning realization. "Hmmm!!!!!!!"

"Stop! Stop! Leave me alone!!!!" she heard herself say, the last word uttered with chilling, precise contempt that made her shudder.

She began to pace erratically, shaking her head as she spoke. "You're... I'm not... you're blaming her? She gave everything for me!" she pleaded, struggling for her own voice, fighting the linguistic hijacking. "Shut up!!!! Quiet!!! Silence!!!!!!"

"No," she declared, the word flat and damning. "I am observing the facts. Her impulsiveness, while courageous, was also her downfall. Just as your sentimentality now threatens to be ours. The Conductor made that abundantly clear, didn't he? 'If you could just predict Rynis Cantus's dirty move, you could have won with your friend.' He rubbed our faces in it."

The memory, combined with the agonizing internal struggle, brought her to her knees. She pressed her fists against her temples, the pain now a blinding, relentless shriek, she squeezes her eyes harder, trying to make the pain go away. "Ghrraah!!!!! My head!!!!"

"He wanted chaos... he wanted a broken Player... easier to manipulate, perhaps. Or perhaps, he wanted to see if a broken Player could somehow, against all odds, succeed," she said.

She spat the next words out, trying to silence the inevitable question. "W-what's the point? We just survived a game only to be thrown into another. What's the point? What's happening!?... Why!!!!! Why!!!!!"

"The point is revenge," she stated, the word resonating with a metallic, thrilling finality that shocked her system. "The Conductor wants a show. Let's give him one he'll never forget. He toyed with us. He exploited our bond. He erased Ao. Are you going to stand there and do nothing?"

Tsugumi finally straightened, bracing herself against the building, her whole body rigid with effort. She fought for control, using every ounce of her remaining willpower. "Uhnn..."

"I need to control myself! I can't... I can't be doing this! T-this.... This is..." she whispered, her voice regaining some of its familiar texture, reflecting her internal curiosity mixed with fear.

She spoke with quiet conviction she hadn't felt for a while, she stands up, cutting through the pain. "T-this isn't the end... We will find a way to bring her back. I-i will find a way to bring her back..."

Her last words brought a powerful surge of hopeful energy, momentarily overriding the agony. Tsugumi took a deep, shuddering breath, her eyes blazing with singular focus. The internal war was still raging, but now, she could think clearly.

"I gotta know what I have to do..." she said, her voice now a tight, focused blend of her two extremes, the pain still there, but accepted as a necessary engine. "I-i cannot afford another mistake."

She took a decisive step, her headache now a reminder of her current mission.

"Ao..." she concluded, her eyes fixed on the empty streets. "Please... Look for me..."

Tsugumi forced herself upright, spitting harshly to clear the lingering taste of bile and the psychic residue of her internal collapse. Her heavy, pained footsteps carried her away from Scramble Crossing, She walked with purpose, though her destination was less a choice and more a magnetic, unconscious pull towards the familiar landmark of the Statue of Hachiko.

Soon, the loyal, enduring bronze dog rose before her. As she stops right close to it.

Her gaze drifted past the dog, catching her reflection in the vast, gleaming window of the Sunshine Stationside building. She stopped, her eyes focusing on the distorted image staring back.

Look at that, a sweet, gentle thought surfaced, immediately triggering a sharp, painful spike in her skull. "D-darn it..." Tsugumi hissed, pressing her knuckles hard against her temples, fighting the intrusive clarity.

She said with a voice soft and utterly unfamiliar to her current state, slipped out before she could physically clamp down on it. "I... I am scared..."

Tsugumi’s eyes widened in horror. She bit her lip so hard she tasted phantom blood, desperately trying to silence her own voice. "Stop it! M-my head..." She shouts holding her head.

She says with her voice on a colder and  analytical tone, also spilling out involuntarily. "We have to keep pushing forward...

"Ghrraah!" With a choked, anguished cry, Tsugumi slammed her fist against the cold glass of the Stationside window, the pain a momentary distraction from the agony in her head.

As if responding to her emotional distress, her fingers brushed against something soft in her pocket. Slowly, with stiff, controlled movements, she pulled out Mr. Mew.

A wave of intense, bittersweet nostalgia, tinged with sharp regret, washed over her, manifesting as an agonizing internal pressure.

A small, tearful voice, fragile and full of longing, escaped her lips before she could stop it "Y-you don't know how much I miss you Mr. Mew..." She hugs him harder, squeezing her eyes shut, she let out a small sighs and she then opens her eyes.

A faint, tender smile a kind, almost childlike expression that belied the war raging within forcibly pulled at the corner of her lips. She brought Mr. Mew to her chest, holding him close, hugging the familiar, worn fabric.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, her voice soft, genuinely apologetic, carried on the breeze. "I don't feel myself anymore... To much has changed since all of this happen... I... I don't know how to deal with this... I don't know where to start..."

Then, she spoke with a cold, sharp and cutting voice, erupting into a bitter hiss. "I hate this feeling... This pain..."

Tsugumi pressed her forehead hard against the window, screaming silently into the glass, the words trapped behind her locked jaw. The pain was unbearable, but the necessity of the mission, of Ao’s return, had now completely fused the pain with her purpose. She clutched Mr. Mew tightly, accepting the torture as the cost of her existence. She had to deal with it if she wanted to do find a way to save Ao or beat the game.

Her moment of peace was quickly abruptly shattered by a familiar, unsettling sound. A low, guttural croak. Tsugumi's head snapped up, her eyes, still clouded by grief and a persistent headache, darting with the ingrained vigilance of a Player. She spun around, her heart sinking, the motion triggering a sharp spike of internal agony. "T-this sound..."

A cluster of Dixiefrogs appeared right on front of her, jumping out of Noise Tags.

"Frogs...." Instinct took over, but the internal conflict manifested as a neurological short circuit. Her hands, honed by countless battles, flew up, fingers splayed, ready to unleash a Shockwave, an Ice Blow, any psych. But nothing happened. "What?" She looked to her hands, wondering what's happening...

A wave of mortified realization, instantly compounded by the self-critical voice, washed over her. She blinked, once, twice. "The Pins! Where are they!?" She quickly turned back looking inside her bag, there was nothing on it, the only Pin she had was a Player Pin, her eyes wide open and she steps back.

Tsugumi flinch, pressing her hands hard against her ears. She, the formidable Tsugumi, had just exposed her weakness to a bunch of frogs. "No.... No no no no no no

NOOOOOO!!!" She steps back.

A Dixiefrog, emboldened by her inaction and struggle, hopped closer, its tongue flicking out. Tsugumi, propelled by pure instinct, snapped. "Darn it!" With a surprisingly swift, almost balletic kick, she lashed out. Her foot connected with the Dixiefrog, sending it spinning end over. It tumbled back, dazed, proving physical force was still an option.

"This isn't over yet! N-not this way..." Tsugumi snarled, the outburst a mix of genuine annoyance and a comical helplessness.

The other Dixiefrogs, however, began to close in. Tsugumi, without psych abilities, had to move. She started to run, but her body was already betraying her. The internal battle was making her limbs unsteady.

"Urgh... I-i gotta go!" she hissed.

She tried to execute a clean bolt around the Statue of Hachiko, but her body stumbled, her left foot dragging momentarily as the conflict between the desperate need for speed and the overwhelming psychic agony threw off her balance. She scraped her ankle against the ground. "Urgh...!"

The Dixiefrogs, surprisingly persistent, gained ground.

"They won't leave... I-i gotta go! U-urgh..." Tsugumi puffed, skidding to a halt near the Scramble Crossing building entrance.

As three Dixiefrogs cut off her path, her mind commanded a pivot, but her body froze in fear, locked by the overload. She stood rigid for a crucial second, and the Dixiefrogs lunged, snapping jaws just inches from her legs. She narrowly avoided contact, the intense fear finally shocking her nervous system back into motion. "Gaah!!"

"MOVE, YOU IDIOT! Ghrnn!!!" she screamed aloud, furious at her own paralysis, the shouted command a desperate attempt to reset her focus.

She continued her frantic dash, darting past a bus stop. A Dixiefrog leaped, barely missing her head. "Aarghh!" Tsugumi shrieked a small, undignified sound and instinctively ducked, tripping over her own feet and sprawling onto her hands and knees. The impact jarred her entire body, sending a fresh wave of blinding pain through her skull.

"Why are there so many of you?! Curse YOU!!!" she whined, her voice high-pitched and breathless.

She fought to stand, as she spoke with a cold and sharp voice "Focus..."

"Arghh! Leave me alone!!!" Tsugumi bit her lip so hard she tasted copper, pushing through the verbal abuse to continue her flailing, desperate evasion. She spun around the Hachiko statue for the third time, the bronze dog a silent, stoic observer of her total humiliation.

One Dixiefrog, surprisingly agile, managed to latch onto the hem of her skirt.

"Let go! Get off!" Tsugumi cried, shaking her leg vigorously, the internal analysis of the combat situation pouring out alongside her scream of frustration. She looked ridiculous, hopping on one foot, the Dixiefrog clinging on like a particularly stubborn burr. It finally popped off with a wet *smack*.

She saw an opening towards Center-Gai and made a dash for it, channeling every ounce of desperation into her legs. "Almost there!" she muttered, forcing herself forward, ignoring the throbbing agony in her head.

But she didn't notice the subtle shift in the Dixiefrogs' movements. Following her from all sides.

"Come on!" Tsugumi groaned, running faster as she could.

The Dixiefrogs began to close in, their croaks turning into triumphant cackles. Tsugumi struggled, stoping on her tracks, her eyes wide open... They got her, from all the sides...

She screamed out loud, a sound of pure mortification and agony. "No.... NOOO!!!" And for the first time, she shouts harder as she could for her. "H-HELP!!!! HELP ME!!!! SOMEBODY HELP!!!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, a helpless, mortified squeak escaping her lips. "AAAH!" This was not the revenge she had promised Ao. This was a humiliating defeat by frogs, and she couldn't even put up a fight. She slumped slightly, the physical effort of fighting to fight them and fight her own mind left her completely defeated.

Just as the first Dixiefrog lunged, its putrid breath hot on Tsugumi's face, a firm, hand shot out and clamped around her own.

Tsugumi’s eyes snapped open, with a wide-eyed confusion, compounded by a fresh, blinding surge of agony in her skull. "W-wha..."

With a violent, reflexive jerk, Tsugumi pushed herself away from the contact, tearing her hand from the stranger’s grasp. The woman, however, was already in motion. She pulled Tsugumi with unexpected, effortless force, dragging her out of the circle of Dixiefrogs.

"Gah!" Tsugumi stumbled, her body refusing to coordinate. She caught herself, leaning heavily on the woman's shoulder for a painful, disoriented moment before pushing off completely.

Standing beside her, pulling her free with surprising grace, was a woman who radiated an unnerving calm. She was tall, appeared to be a young woman, perhaps in her late twenties of more, a closer look revealed faint, yet serious, old wounds marring the skin of her exposed arms and her right eye.

As their hands briefly separated and then reconnected due to Tsugumi’s stumble, a soft, ethereal blue energy began to glow around them. Tsugumi's whispered, her voice getting a more soft tone. "A... Pact..."

The Dixiefrogs, halted in their tracks by the sudden, powerful energy glow.

Tsugumi, panting and shaking from the internal pain, stared at the woman. Her confusion was absolute.

"Who-WHO are you!?" Tsugumi spat out, her voice a strained, involuntary whisper of fear and shock. "What are you doing!?"

The blonde woman offered a serene, almost pitying smile. "My apologies, little Player. But it appears you were in need of a partner, and I was in need of a distraction. The contract is sealed."

The blue glow faded, leaving Tsugumi close to the mysterious woman as the Dixiefrogs were around them.

The Dixiefrogs, momentarily confused, began to stir, their croaks regaining their malicious edge. The tall woman, her grip firm on Tsugumi's hand, turned to her, her striking blue eyes, sharp behind her glasses, assessing the small Player.

"Do you know how to use Pins?" she asked, her voice calm and clear, yet holding an undertone of authority.

Tsugumi, still flustered and caught between shock and embarrassment, nodded and stood up, keeping a small distance between the two of them.

The woman observed her for a long moment, a faint, unreadable expression on her face. Her blue eyes lingered on Tsugumi’s tightly clenched jaw and the faint sweat on her forehead, signs of something. The woman did nothing, offered no comfort, simply observing. Then, she released Tsugumi's hand and, from somewhere within the folds of her maid uniform, produced a Pin. It was sleek, metallic, with an emblem Tsugumi didn't recognize. "Here," she said, her voice crisp. "Try this one. It's Force Rounds."

Before Tsugumi could even process the gift, the woman placed the Pin firmly in her palm, then, with a surprising amount of force, gave her a gentle but decisive shove forward. "Gah!" Tsugumi stumbled the pain in her head, combined with the unexpected push, throwing her balance off, finding herself directly in front of the advancing Dixiefrogs. The woman, meanwhile, calmly crossed her arms, her stance exuding an aura of serene observation, watching Tsugumi's struggle with detached interest.

The abrupt push, the sudden exposure, snapped Tsugumi out of her daze. The agonizing reality of the threat, compounded by the woman's cold indifference, triggered the immediate her annoyance. She stared back to the woman from the corner of her eyes and then turned forward.

She instinctively clutched the Force Rounds Pin, a familiar surge of psychic energy coursing through her. It was different, yet it was still a pin.

(𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑶 𝑱𝑺𝑹𝑭 𝑶𝑺𝑻 - 𝑰 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑾𝑯𝑰𝑳𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑷𝑼𝑻 𝑰𝑻 𝑶𝑵 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑷)∇∇∇

The Dixiefrogs, seeing her stumble, croaked in triumph and lunged. Tsugumi didn't hesitate. She activated the Force Rounds Pin. "Haaaaahhhh!!!!!" With a guttural snarl of pure annoyance, she thrust her hand forward. A compressed sphere of shimmering blue energy erupted from her palm, shooting forth like a cannonball.

The sphere struck the lead Dixiefrog head-on. The Noise exploded into a shower of static with a violent, concussive force.

"I... won't... hold... back..." Tsugumi muttered, a grim satisfaction in her voice, but she immediately pressed her fist against her temple, the sudden spike of psych use sending a throbbing wave of pain through her skull.

Another Dixiefrog leaped at her from the left. Tsugumi pivoted, her movements sharp but slightly jerky due to the internal agony. She unleashed another Force Rounds, this time a rapid-fire succession of three smaller, energy spheres. They hammered into the Dixiefrog until it dissolved.

The remaining Dixiefrogs hesitated, their initial confidence shaken.

Tsugumi pressed her advantage, pushing through the relentless headache. She kept her distance, circle-strafing the Hachiko statue, but every pivot, every sudden movement, was a calculated risk against her unstable equilibrium. Each shot carried a satisfying *thwump* of energy.

She was fighting with a controlled fury. The elegance of her movement was constantly undermined by the constant need to press her hand against her head, or the sharp intake of breath as the pain flared. "I can't stop.... I have... I have to keep going!!!"

Another Dixiefrog managed to get close. "Rah!" Tsugumi snarled, her hand blurring. She slammed a Force Round directly into its face at point-blank range. The Dixiefrog exploded instantly.

"Don't even think about it," she growled, her voice tight with forced control. 

The battle intensified as more Dixiefrogs emerged. Her face was set in a mask of frustrated concentration, yet she had to keep going.

She jumped, her landing rough, twisting in the air to unleash a rapid volley of Force Rounds downwards. She rolled, coming up smoothly, immediately firing a powerful Force Round to eliminate the sneak attacker.

"Puff... puff..." Her breathing was ragged, her focus absolute, sustained by pure anger and the painful memory of Ao.

She continued her assault, relentless and unforgiving. The Dixiefrogs were now in full retreat, their numbers dwindling rapidly. Tsugumi pursued them, her movements light and deadly, delivering the final, decisive blows. "You won't touch me again... You won't take anything else from me!"

Finally, the last Dixiefrog dissolved into a shimmering spray of static. Silence descended on the Statue of Hachiko, broken only by Tsugumi's heavy, forced breathing and the gentle, distant roar of the traffic.

She stood amidst the fading static, the faint blue glow of the Force Rounds Pin still pulsing in her hand. Her body trembled, and her hands immediately flew back up to press against her aching skull. The adrenaline was gone. The full, brutal weight of the internal conflict returned, immediately manifesting as an agonizing, crushing pressure.

She turned to face the woman in the maid uniform, her eyes still sharp with defiance, awaiting judgment, or perhaps, just waiting for the next involuntary word to spill out and humiliate her.

A slow, deliberate clap echoed in the quiet air, a stark, formal sound that sliced through the fading static of the battle. Tsugumi, still panting, her hands pressed desperately to her throbbing skull, watched as the woman in the maid uniform lowered her hands. There was a peculiar glint in her blue eyes, a flicker of something akin to genuine amazement. There was an undeniable air of maturity and a subtle hint of dominance in her posture.

Then, with a graceful, almost theatrical movement, she bowed slowly, her long blonde hair cascading forward. As she straightened, she crossed her hands over her chest, her dark, pointed fingernails stark against the pristine white of her cuffs.

"A truly splendid performance, young lady," she purred, her voice a low, resonant tone that seemed to vibrate in the air. "Quite peculiar. I am Ms. K A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Tsugumi’s mind processed the name. *Ms. K..* The name felt more like a suggested nickname...

"Tsugumi," she managed, her voice tight with forced control. The effort of speaking was immense. She tried to take a step toward Konishi, an uncontrollable surge of fury driving her to demand answers, but she stumbled violently, her body failing to obey the command. "Urgh..." She rubs her eyes.

The anger and frustration, compounded by the constant headache, she rubbed her temples and said "What do you want from me? A person like you doesn't look like a Player... How would a person like you end on this game?"

Konishi’s lips curved into a faint, enigmatic smile. "Straight to the point, aren't we? I admire that." She paused, her gaze sweeping over Tsugumi’s. "As for what I want... for now, let us say I am merely an observer. And perhaps, a temporary guide."

Tsugumi felt a searing flash of irritation at the vague answer, which immediately triggered an outburst, her voice laced with the cold suspicion of her pragmatic voice. "Observer? Guides have a purpose... And why do you look at me like that?"

Konishi simply chuckled, a low, melodic sound. "I look at you because you are a strange one, young lady. I don't know your history, but I recognize the signature of immense psychic pressure. You are fighting an inner war, a rather magnificent one, forged by something or someone who clearly meant to shatter you." She tilted her head, her blue eyes piercing. "And judging by the way you fight. You are fueled by revenge."

The word revenge was like a lightning strike. Tsugumi’s face hardened. She pressed her hands to her ears, hissing through clenched teeth. "Ghrraah!"

"He shattered me! He took...her He deserves to be erased!" she heard herself growl, the low, dangerous tone entirely involuntary. "Urgh... My head..." She shuts her eyes harder. "You work for him don't you...? Grr... You must be enjoying to see a Player like you..." She whispers under her breath.

Konishi's eyes narrowed slightly, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Ah, yes. The architect of your agony. A bold move, certainly. And quite the spectacle. But I work for no one," she stated, her voice firm and absolute. "My objectives are my own. I simply appreciate good strategy, and your current... condition... makes you a fascinating variable for observation."

Tsugumi felt a desperate surge of protest, her softer, bewildered side struggling for dominance. "This is not fair...." She looks away.

Konishi's expression remained utterly impassive. "Fairness, young one, is a concept utterly devoid of meaning in the Underground. There is only cause and effect. Your pain, It's just a tools. Sharpened by suffering, directed by your fury." She took a slow step closer, her voice dropping to a hypnotic, absolute tone. "You, however, seem to have been given a unique path. You have a reason to fight beyond survival. You have chosen retribution. Isn't that clear?"

Tsugumi clenched her fists, her entire body trembling with the effort to control her voice and her limbs. She forced the words out, low and fierce, finally gaining full, painful control over her voice. "Yes. I will. I will make him pay. I will get Ao back." She presses her eyes shut. "I... I got to...."

Konishi nodded slowly, a flicker of approval in her blue eyes. "Good. That is what I wished to hear. That singular purpose is what will keep your fragile self intact. Now, your next mission awaits. And your new partner, perhaps." She turned slightly, gesturing vaguely towards the chaos of Shibuya.

"My partner?" Tsugumi questioned, the word tasting like ash in her mouth. The idea of a new partner, after Ao, felt sacrilegious, immediately sparking another spike of internal pain.

Konishi simply smiled, a knowing, almost mischievous glint in her eyes. "All in good time, Tsugumi. All in good time. For now, focus on the The Game, after all, waits for no one." With that, she turned and, with an almost imperceptible shimmer, seemed to fade into the chaotic backdrop of Scramble Crossing, leaving Tsugumi alone once more. Alone, but now armed with a new Pin, a fractured mind, and a burning, singular purpose. Tsugumi forced herself to stand, her entire body aching, a testament to the brutal path ahead.

...

"Ao... Now that we finally found each other... Why are you so far away now..."

                                              To Be Continued....