Standing Against the Ills of Our Day

The likelihood they’d want to shop if they remained here for much longer was rather high – best to get into a more private, professional location.

“Hmm.” He sighed. “Other than the River, I’ve got no idea. Shibuya is... very densely occupied.” Which was fortunate, as it wouldn’t be Shibuya otherwise... but happened to be less than ideal in this case, or whenever else you were looking for a quiet location.

“Aah… Kitaniji, Megumi. Yes?”

He’d have likely noticed the presence earlier, were they not standing in a shop - although he, by merit of his position, wasn’t completely powerless in the RG, it was still rather muffling. Looking somewhere in the Angel’s direction, he replied, “...Yes.” ...How, exactly, were you supposed to react when meeting someone you may end up having to work with for the rest of your existence? Giving a traditional greeting couldn’t be offensive, could it? “It’s nice to meet you.”

“…Tha’s…” He paused again. “Kinda? I don’t like how they act like they better than everyone an’ know best just cuz they stronger, y’know? It just pisses me off an’ I open my big mouth. Still gotta work on that, haha…”

...He was particularly uncomfortable around his own Producer, but... that was for more personal reason. Him being an Angel had very little to do with it.

“Is he nice?”

“He’s very easy to get along with, and certainly very friendly.“ Niceness wasn’t something Megumi associated with anyone involved with the UG - strength of character, perhaps, but....

"I dunno, I might jus’ be weird. I kinda like the idea of modifyin’ it so it reflects me more. Plus, I kinda think the two pillars wid the Angel an Reaper on it look kinda lame. I don’t wanna look at Angels more than I already gotta."

"I’d think I’d be the stranger one - it is natural to want to customize something so important, isn’t it? ...Though I suppose I might consider insulting anything He had dealt with to be strange." A pause. “Have you some problem with Angels?”

"Okay. Thank you for telling this, Sir. Do you know where I might run into him?"

"...He runs a cafe on Cat Street, which runs unreliable hours. It is, however, your best bet." If Hanekoma didn't want to be bothered, he'd be unavailable - and if he was fine with it, the man was certainly capable of avoiding unpleasant or classified subjects on his own.

"I figured you liked your sewer too much to worry about the RG."

"I am not obligated to remain in the sewer - and everyone is lowered to the RG while in stores."

"You made any renovations t’ the Room? My Producer said I wasn’t allowed t’ do it, but I ain’t sure if that’s a multiversal constant."

"I don't know whether I'd be allowed - I haven't particularly wanted to, so there's been no reason to check." Even if it was a reminder of... that, that made it an important reminder of the prior Composer. Megumi wouldn't change it, even if he preferred to avoid it.

"Right. So I guess it was just dumb luck that I ran into you at the music store, huh?"

"...Yes. Why would I have any desire to seek you out?"

"…Yeah, you’re right. Just seeing you is enough to bring back all the memories I don’t need."

"...I certainly wasn't planning on seeking you out in the future."

"Because, some of my friends were talking about how he put me in a pin after I got erased and I thought that was kind of interesting, since we don’t currently have any Reapers with that name."

But... if Rhyme was curious about the circumstances of her Game, perhaps it would do her good to speak with the Producer. Not only was he a stabilizing presence, but he could likely remember far more about that week than Megumi. "...He poses no danger to you, however. I will tell you no more, but seek him out if you will."

"Yeah, genius. You ever think that’s the reason why I don’t need a reminder in the first place?"

"I think it's the reason it's pointless to attempt to avoid reminding you."

"And just because I don’t personally approve of it or whatever, doesn’t mean that I don’t get it’s important. I don’t need a reminder of that every time you show up. But I’m not about to admit the Game’s anything worth enjoying, either. Actually, I don’t even wanna talk about it at all."

"While I may understand that you'd like to avoid the pain from memories,  I find it hard to believe you'd think about anything but the Game around me, even if I were to refrain from mentioning it."

"Well like, not everyone notices. People can be pretty oblivious to things like that." Even in a big city filled with so many people, worldviews could be narrow. She’d been the same, enjoying only one tiny portion of something much greater before she played the Game and opened her eyes so to speak. "And that’s good. I like Shibuya like this. And Jo- I mean, the Composer’s a pretty okay guy on top of all of that other stuff." Coco’d nearly slipped up and called the Composer by a nickname. She didn’t know what Kitaniji’s impression of him really was, but acting so casual about that aspect was probably not the best idea.

"Unfortunately." While he'd defend it, Megumi wasn't entirely sure how he felt about his plan, in hindsight. Still, the Reapers, at least, should hold the Composer in a bit more respect, as He was the one who kept the city in such good condition. "I don't believe I have quite the same perspective on Him as you do, but... the Composer is wonderful."  Megumi was well aware that the Composer was of at least human origin, if not fully human in nature, but... that only made Him more admirable than were he to have sprung into existence as a god.

"Listen, I get that the Game wasn’t hard for just me. But I’m not about to admit that it was breeze, either. And I’m not gonna not complain about it, either. Whatever the Composer’s ‘true’ intentions were, that still doesn’t change the fact that those were the worse three weeks of my damn life.”

"I suppose that's reasonable enough. However, the Game, and the Composer, have a very important purpose - whether or not you personally approve of it, or the Composer, perhaps you should remember that.

Beat let out a low whistle at that. A small, crooked grin formed on his face as well. “What’d the guy do? Freak out?”

"Well, I'd already aided him, so he wasn't too put out. ...He seemed mostly amused, in fact." It wasn't even a very powerful fire, anyway. "I don't believe I've ever seen him 'freaked out', for that matter." Hanekoma had likely seen his fair share of new Composers already, so that made sense.

"But you say that like I’m the one walking the streets, whining about those three weeks to every damn person I see. I get that the Game wasn’t hard for just me. I don’t think I’d be stupid."

"But perhaps you don't. Perhaps, in that case, you should take a few minutes and truly think about the Composer's actions."