The World Ends With Kaiba?! - a PSL for Kaiba and Emma in Shibuya

[chicklet]

 Warning, this PSL will deal with themes of death and possibly suicide. There will also be spoilers for The World Ends With You, Yu Gi Oh (The World Ends With Yu-gi Oh?) and Promised Neverland.

Also warning for mentions and evidence of child abuse, the eating of human flesh, and self mutilation. 

You have been warned. 

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[food_for_thought]

Kaiba might remember dying, might not remember dying. Hard to say. He'd have a vague memory that is dreamlike and hazy of being offered a chance to come back to life. Play the game, win, and be alive again. Play the game fail and die forever. A vague dream like memory of agreeing. Only ti find out after that his brother... was his entry fee. Win and his brother lives too. Lose... and they are both gone. Forever.

Whatever he remembered, however, he'd wake up in the Scramble Crossing. Face down in the crosswalk. People walk past him without seeming to even notice that he's there. There is the normal noise and chatter of the scramble, but almost... muffled somehow. Almost distant. Almost unreal.

But there is one person who looks very real to him, not far off of him. A young girl with a bandaged ear, dodging the attack of some sort of monster. She's about 12, and her clothing is layered and patched and filthy. She's doing a good job of dodging for a kid, but... still. Kid. In danger.

And no one else seems to notice anything at all amiss.

[blue_ice]

Kaiba's head is splitting with pain. Is it real, or is it heartache...?

He always suspected that he'd die young, somehow. He could still feel those haunting last moments. But he was in deep, deep trouble now.

He forces himself upright, slowly. He'd easily attracted crowds in life, but here...he was like a ghost. Invisible. Life moved on without him. He rubs his eyes and stands on weary legs, his gaze passing over a desperate struggle that everyone ignored. What?

A child is in trouble. No one intervenes and no one panics and runs either. Could she see him, could he help her? One way to find out---he hurries forward, aiming at the creature with a solid kick.

[food_for_thought]

Just before his kick could land, she cried out in terror and barreled into him, knocking them both to the ground off to one side.

"If you touch them without a partner you die! For real!" She told him as she rolled off of him before scrambling to her feet. Then she looked back at him and held out a hand. "Make a pact with me! Hurry!"

[blue_ice]

"Huh---"

Seto collided awkwardly with the ground, processing this information with the pain and dizziness underlying his thoughts. Seriously...?

"How?"

His gaze flickered from the creature back to her as he sat up, his hand hovering hesitantly in the air.

[food_for_thought]

"Take my hand! We have to be partners to fight! And I need to get back to everyone!"

[blue_ice]

"O...kay..."

Still as skeptical as ever, he grabbed her hand. Hopefully he wouldn't regret signing this contract, of all contracts...

"What now?"

[food_for_thought]

A light flashed between them. The creature fell back.

"Got it!" she said. She danced back away from him. She held up a badge pin in the palm of one of hand. She pulled her fingers back across it, a bow made of light appeared, an arrow drawing the line from her fingers to the badge and beyond. She let go and the light speared the creature, making it vanish.

Another was hopping up behind her.

[blue_ice]

"Behind you!"

Kaiba bit back a yell of frustration and lunged for her, grabbing her arm and dodging left.

"Am I clear to hit them now or---do I need a weapon like yours---?"

[food_for_thought]

"You can hit them now, but that'll hurt you too, mister," she said. Her eyes were wide and her voice absolutely little kid. "You should use your pins!"

[blue_ice]

"My pins...? How do I do that?"

He'd seen her use something, and surely he had one too---but. It didn't come the most naturally to him.

[food_for_thought]

She pulled her fingers across her pin and fired another arrow. Another monster was hit and vanished. "You hafta practice with them to figure them out. But the picture's a clue."

[blue_ice]

"The...hm..."

Kaiba finds the pin and squints at it. A grinning face, a swirl....like wind? Or a hurricane? It's not clear.

He tries to copy the movement he saw her do, but draw in a swirl pattern to match the pin. A weak crackle of electricity bounces off his hand.

"How'd you get to learn the rules? No one told me."

[food_for_thought]

"They didn't? Someone explained them to me. Finish off that last one and I'll help ya, okay, Mister?"

[blue_ice]

"Fine," Kaiba agreed. He didn't have much choice. Frustrated with his lack of ability, he swiped the pin and made a similar motion again...and a small lightning crackle happened.

He tried to flick it with his finger. It moved that way...but he needed more. Bigger. He leapt out of the way of an incoming attack and tried again, finally managing to stun it with a bigger swipe.

Strike again? Yeah. He finally managed to get it down.

"...We didn't have anything like this where I come from," he admitted in an attempt to defend his weak performance. He looked flustered, embarrassed.

[food_for_thought]

"Me neither," she said happily. She clapped her hands, seemingly happy for him. "But you did it! We beat the monsters! We can win this and go back home!" She bounced around excitedly, the hair braided to one side of her face moving enough as she bounced to make the bandage seem more pronounced.

[blue_ice]

Seto frowned as he caught sight of the...injury.

"Wait, we're dead and you're still hurt---what got you?"

Just in case it was something he needed to worry about.

CW: self harm

[food_for_thought]

"What?" she asked, then realized what he had to be looking. She reached a hand up to touch the bandage. "Oh, no, I'm fine," she said with a bright smile. "I did that to myself. I didn't want to take the bandage off to see if it was still bad while dead or not. Besides, I've gotten used to it, and I can still mostly hear on that side. So it's fine!" She seemed so cheerful.

"Should we talk about strategy? Or look for food or something? I've never seen so many people in one place before. I don't know where to start."

[blue_ice]

"Mostly hear..."

That wasn't good. Seto shook his head and spun around to have a look at the place while he considered their next move.

"I can't believe we still have to eat while dead. What a waste. But we shouldn't let ourselves get weaker, that'll hinder any strategy...so. Eat first, I'll see what I can reach for us."

[food_for_thought]

"We can go to any restaurant with the game mark on it, they said. But..." She looked unsure and curious "they showed me what the mark looks like but... I have never been to a restaurant, so I;'m not sure what they look like or how to find one."

[blue_ice]

"...huh. If they're like the ones in the living world..."

Seto sticks close to her side and looks around.

"They usually have big windows so the people inside can see out. Lots of tables and chairs for people to eat...but you'd usually smell them before you see them. Warm, fresh food has a distinct scent."

...unless. Wait. After a moment, he adds.

"We can still use our noses, right?"

[food_for_thought]

"Don't know why we couldn't..."

"You could," someone said from above them. A figure in a long black coat with his hood up, hiding his face. "Bu you'll only smell the UG. Not the most useful of scents."

She spun to the voice, pulling her arrow back, but lowered it and it vanished when she saw who it was. Or wasn't.