The Game (Neku x Reader)

Chapter 12

"Hey now, there's no need for any kind of violence. Put the pillow down. You just went through a huge fight, take it easy now. You really think I would take advantage of an injured person?"

I tightened my grip on the pillow. "I don't know you well enough to answer that. Who are you and where am I?"

He clicked his tongue. "So demanding. Anyways, my name is Tadashi Hanekoma. I found you and some other Reapers at the Backstreets of Udagawa. Your injuries were worse than the others so I had brought you back here to patch you up. The others are all fine so there's no reason to worry. Although, I did have some questions for you if you don't mind."

Hanekoma? Was he related to Mr. Hanekoma at WildKat?

"Hanekoma? You wouldn't happen to know someone named Sanae Hanekoma would you?"

"Oh! Yes I do in fact. He's my younger brother." They did look similar to each other with slightly wild black hair but the man in front of me had blue eyes similar to Naomi's. "You've met him before?"

"Uh once, yeah. But where are we? Is this your house?" He didn't really answer my question the first time I had asked and I wasn't going to blindly trust him because he claims he's related to someone I've met.

"No, no, I live elsewhere. I just come here to do some business. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened?"

"I want my pins back first. I don't feel comfortable without them." He shrugged and reached into his pocket and revealed a handful of pins.

"I had a feeling you'd ask. I didn't do anything to them. Here ya go." He handed me the pins and I checked over them. My Reaper pin, Conductor pin, and the others I had used were all here and they didn't appear to be tampered with. The same imagination flowed from each pin as before.

"Thanks," I mumbled. I was about to say something else before suddenly becoming relaxed in his presence. I was alright with telling him about what happened. I was about to tell him about when I received the text from Koki but stopped myself. Was he aware of my position? Seeming to read my mind, Tadashi answered my question.

"If you're wondering what I think you are then yes, I am aware about the Reapers' Game and in a way, is kind of like Sanae. I make sure people like him, who monitor the game, also follow the rules. And I know that you're the Conductor. That kind of information travels around quickly."

I furrowed my eyebrows. He didn't seem like a Reaper. Someone didn't just possess all of that knowledge. What was he?!

Within seconds, my mind seemed clear and I was back on the original topic. Like a robot, I began to tell him what had happened, not revealing anything I felt he didn't need to know and had to compose myself when I told him what had happened moments before I blacked out. He stayed silent the entire time I retold what had happened and when I was finished he let out a lengthy sigh.

"I had a feeling he was behind this," he mumbled.

"You know him?" I asked. Tadashi held himself back for a second, deep in thought, as if debating on if he could tell me or not.

". . . Yes . . . I'm assuming you already know of fallen angels?" He paused and I pursed my lips. "I thought so. Anyways, that man was one. He's been on the loose for awhile now and he's only just recently shown up out of the blue, going around to each UG plane and Erasing as many Reapers as he can before moving on to the next. Although, he seems especially attracted to you. Just what have you done to make him so interested in you?" Tadashi let out a small laugh.