Future Diary (Mirai Nikki)

The Unlucky Thirteenth

Eighth--Step Up And Play

Summary: Amaya promises to get more involved in the Game, but before she can do so, gets a call from someone that dredges up her past.

"What do you mean the cops are on your tail?" Amaya half-shouted into the phone. Minene had gotten herself into a mess yet again, and the black haired girl was thoroughly frustrated.

This had been happening since she had restarted school (with the unhelpfulness of the Fourth and Masumi Nishijima). Minene no longer had Amaya to yell at in their new place, and therefore she was bored.

"I meant what I said, are you going deaf?" She scoffed. Amaya scowled. "I'm gonna ditch 'em by the grocer on the corner of that one street. You know the place. Meet me three blocks from the park, west."

"That one store on that one corner of that one street? Of course I know it, how specific can that get?" Amaya shouted, already hefting her bag off her shoulder and grabbing a hoodie and a hat. These articles of clothing she shoved into the fabric death trap, fumbling with the snap.

Minene chuckled on the other end of the call. The laugh was punctuated by panting, and a desperate shout from a probably desperate officer. "Get her!"

Yeah, because that was what was going to happen. Sure.

Amaya laughed before running out the door, racing towards the corner of the street that led to where Minene wanted her to go. The girl was in flip flops, slogging along in the purple shoes too small for her since a year ago. Some people stared at her strangely, but she just glared and they quickly cleared away as she pounded into a light jog.

"Hey, Minene," Amaya called into the phone.

"What is it, Squirrel?" She queried.

"What did you do to get caught?" She queried.

"Some white haired guy ratted me out." Her eyebrows raised as she took in the information, before turning the corner. "It was a dye to make him look younger. He was obviously a brunette."

The balls of her feet ached from the relentless pounding. Her headache had come and since a week ago, when her friends took me to the amusement park. She had slammed her head against the side of a ride, hard.

As if merely thinking about it brought back the bitter memories, Amaya's hand went to her neck as she pushed past people in the crowd. The bruises had mostly healed, leaving only the faintest trace of blue and purple.

The first day after, she had worn a bandage around her neck. Her friends had asked tons of questions, and she had the sneaking suspicion one of them had already figured out some sort of theory.

When she had walked to the door at the beginning of the school day, the girl was plagued with an assault of questions from the two girls in the sort of trio the three of them formed.

Hinata wouldn't take no for an answer, demanding to know exactly what had gone on. Mao had worriedly argued with Amaya's attempt at silence. Nothing the two of them said or shouted made any difference.

Akise, however, was another story.

Seeing as he was creepily smart and deductive, he managed to guess the girl had gotten in a fight. How he knew that wasn't clear, but it wasn't hard to guess. However, his comments made her shirk away, until she ended up eating lunch alone, trying not to launch into a full-scale breakdown. Not crying, but mentally hyperventilating.

He had the power to get on her nerves, and he used it to every advantage he got. Amaya fully detested it, but if she was going to be in this situation she might as well try to be nice. That could get her farther with him than anger, apparently.

It was obviously not working.

"-irrel. Squirrel. Hey, are you fucking listening?"

"Hm? Yeah? Sorry. Yeah, I'm here," Amaya said, slowly pounding to a stop where she was, her destination having been reached.

The call terminated after a lot of yelling.

Anaya was vaguely worried. Minene had her Escape Diary, but the future was a changing thing. What if she had gotten caught?the girl decided to stop worrying. It was only a weakness others could exploit, like the Fourth had so kindly demonstrated.

Minene burst out from another corner, darting around Amaya and grabbing the collar of her worn shirt before dragging the girl off. She obliged, letting the woman pull her as she ran backward. Minene eventually turned the corner Amaya had just come around, letting go and allowing her to run on her own.

Amaya was miffed, aggravated at the fact that Minene didn't allow her to save her own self. Amaya could run, and could keep up with her! Maybe she had seen something in her Diary, because she had it in her hand and was sneaking glances every seven seconds.

The girl fumbled with her backpack as she sprinted to catch up with the terrorist, yanking the hat out and throwing it at her back. Minene reached behind herself and caught the brim, turning sharply and reaching out a hand to yank the girl in. Said student had already flung herself in behind her, so Minene retracted the proffered limb.

"I have a jacket," Amaya said. It would look conspicuous wearing one, but it was all she had time to grab. In answer, Minene pulled off her shirt and tossed it at Amaya, before zipping up the green, sleeveless jacket.

The two had done this for days. The most recent one was when Minene had been infiltrating the Sakurami Police/Detective Branch...thingy. Yeah.

Amaya had been alone for days, waiting for her to finish up assassinating Fred Haiman, and get back to their next act of terrorism. The two had communicated face-to-face only, and Amaya still harbored feelings that this was the reason Minene had been caught.

The girl was charged with the enormous responsibility of killing the woman Minene was going to impersonate–and disposing of the body. She thought she had done a good enough job, and she certainly hadn't expected them to dredge the coast so soon.

Amaya wasn't going to burn the body, because when Minene eventually disappeared, they would find the real person's body. Hopefully they wouldn't run a scan to see how long she had been there, but even if they did, Minene would be long gone by then, with nothing to trace her.

Of course, nothing had gone as planned.

Amaya was bothered by the turn of events the Future Diary game had taken. First of all, she didn't get a choice in the matter of a Diary.

Secondly, cops were working with terrorists. What. The. Hell. And then they suddenly decide to protect them and send the 'kid'–who murdered people as a hobby–to a school where she could potentially cause more harm all for the sake of, hey, let's get this girl to stalk three kids because we're too lazy to do it ourselves!

Not to mention that the kid we're trying to protect has a psychotic girlfriend who will do anything for him, so there really isn't a reason to do so.

And for what purpose? Let's let international terrorists go roam free! Our excuse? Uh, Boss, they're part of a fucked up survival game and we're going to take our chances at letting murderers run the world.

Because all of this makes perfect sense and we don't belong in a mental institution. Yup, that is pretty much the rundown. No sir, we do not believe this was covered in our directions.

Therefore, since we're suddenly 'united' under the cause of a fucking Future Diary we are suddenly going to treat them like normal people who never harmed anyone or blew up anything. Yes sir, that is correct.

Looking back on all of it, the whole schematic was pretty stupid. There had to be an underlying reason. Did the Fourth just want to hold power over our heads? Or did he have another reason?

The two were criminals! He should have taken them in, but apparently a 'jailed murder' would be too hard to explain. Because a cop letting a worldwide terrorist go was even easier to explain.

Just call it 'suicide by cop'.

Amaya scowled. They were going to move out of their little hiding space tomorrow, so the Fourth and his lackey couldn't find them as easily. It wasn't like there was documentation or anything, but Minene had brought up the point that they were probably watching every move the two made.

Or not, since the station wasn't supposed to know that a trained officer had let a terrorist and her accomplice go.

Was Amaya the only one who saw any irony in that at all?

"Minene?" She questioned. The woman looked over as she began to walk out of the alley. Amaya walked out, tripping over the too-small shoes.

"What?" She grouched. The girl kept my face as still as stone.

"Did you get a choice about your Diary?" She questioned. Minene continued walking ahead. The silence was disturbing.

"Why should you care?"

"Because I didn't. I was forced into the whole thing, and I didn't know if it was that way for everyone."

She turned, and grabbed Amaya's arm before dragging me back in the alley.

"Listen, Squirrel," she spat. "We are in a survival game. Get your head out of the clouds and face that fact. Stop stringing along like a piece of dead weight and do something.

"The person who created this? He wants entertainment. We are supposed to kill each other. It's not that hard to grasp. Don't be a wimpy little kid, and sit around letting others take care of something for you!

"Fucking do something entertaining! If you're not in it to win, then just opt out! You can't just play everyone for a fool and expect them to take care of you. I was sympathetic, and it was the worst mistake of my life. I am done protecting you from every little thing! Are you in it to win, or to go to the very end? If not, I'm killing you right here!"

Amaya glared, angry. Who was she to force this choice on her? Amaya was playing, wasn't she? The girl wasn't a board game, and definably wasn't some pawn on the chessboard! Amaya had helped Minene with that school heist! Didn't that count?

"Well? Hurry up!" Minene shouted, before hitting the girl in the face. She smashed her head against the wall, right where she had hit it at the amusement park. The force of the bricks coming into contact with her face was astounding. Amaya yelped, and immediately hated herself for her weakness.

"Fucking choose already, damn it!" She shouted.

In response, Amaya whipped out her knife. Minene drew hers at the same moment, and they were a mirror of each other, knives bared, throats both pale in the dimness of the shadows.

The bruises on Amaya's neck were clear, finger marks apparent. Minene eyed them with surprise, before a cool smile slid over her face.

"So. You haven't been as docile as you seem," she started. Amaya yelled with rage. She swung the knife. Minene dropped to a crouch, before kicking out her legs. The girl jumped just in time, holding the knife against the woman's throat.

"I'm playing, aren't I? I'm in, whether I like it or not! So what other choice do I have? I value my life a little bit more than it seems, you know!" Amaya screamed.

"I'm not just an ignorant child relying on others! I am not going to be dead weight! I've been helping you, so I've been playing in this game too! I'm alive, and that's really all the proof you need! So fucking back off!"

Minene stood there and let her vent, waiting with a collected smirk, which faded as sirens in the distance grew shrill.

"Glad to know you made a choice. Now listen. We have a while to go, until the first of June. I suggest we start setting our next plan into motion," she said. She pulled out her Diary and consulted it. "Cops are closing in from the west. Can't go back that way. Come on."

Wordlessly, Amaya followed, seething with anger. Her Diary buzzed with static, so she pulled it out and checked it for the first time in forever.

5/17 5:43 [Unnamed Location in Sakurami City] Minene is harsher than usual. She's pacing. Offer to get dinner, while seeming abashed and slightly meek. Determination is good too.

So her Diary was finally predicting locations as well. She silently thanked Deus for that upgrade, as well as his insight to the true purpose of her Diary. Amaya needed to ask him why he did not give her a choice in the Diary matters, or if he simply overlooked her.

Maybe he knew she would have said no.

Amaya had no desire to rule the world. She just wanted to be left alone to wallow in self pity and take it out on others. She had no interest in thrones, but if that was what it took to stay alive, she would.

5/17 6:15 [Sakura Cafe] Hinata, and Mao show up at the cafe. They want to come over. I use Minene's cover as my cousin. She understands, but isn't happy about it.

5/17 6:23 [Unnamed Location in Sakurami City] Minene is annoyed. Apologize, and ask them to leave. Sound angry at them, but then text them later and apologize.

5/17 7:40 [Park Bench, Sakurami Park] I get a call from Akise. He's asking about who Minene really is, plus some other issues regarding the amusement park disaster.

The keyboard slid back in the phone as Amaya slipped it in her pocket. The future could be set in stone for all she cared, seeing as she needed something to distract her from the events of today.

Amaya understood why Minene wanted to kill me, she really did. Amaya had done nothing to contribute to the game, while Minene had set the entire thing into motion and taken initiative. If Amaya was going to remain a slacker uninterested in becoming God or even what happened in the game, Minene was going to eliminate another obstacle.

She sighed. There was nothing to be done, and she would go see Deus tomorrow. Amaya had some important questions that needed answers.

***

"What is it?" Amaya asked, grabbing the takeout from the counter and slapping the bills for her meal onto the granite surface. The boy behind the counter smiled at the girl, offering a smile full of braces. She flashed a small, tired smirk back as Hinata and Mao linked their arms though hers and dragged her out of the shop.

"What do you guys want?" She questioned. Amaya already knew, of course, but she wanted to appear normal. The food smelled appetizing. The meal hadn't cost much, but there were plentiful quantities in that deceptively small takeout box.

"Amaya-chan, you never showed us your house!" Hinata said. Amaya blinked, allowing surprise to cross her features. Her Diary had buzzed as soon as the two had walked in, and thankfully they hadn't seen her right away.

The entries had told her what to say, what to do, how to deliver the 'lines' like acting out a play where only one end of the script was written, and kept changing.

"Yeah, I know. We're kind of in the middle of repairs right now," Amaya said quickly. "I recapitulate: in the middle of repairs. I'm staying at a cousin's house currently. It's not my home, so you guys can't trespass."

Hinata looked disappointed. "How long are the renovations going on?" Mao questioned. She was smart. She had picked up on the subtle lying text Amaya had thrown into the line. She had known one of them would take the bait, and she would grudgingly allow them to come.

"Okay, confession time." Amaya's  voice grew slightly strained. "It's not my cousin's house. My parents wanted me to be safe, because there's some bad stuff mixed up in their American business. Some car troubles with Toyota.

"So they moved me to this abandoned building to ensure I was safe. I'm kinda rich," Amaya fibbed. It was the only plausible backstory to fit the outline Kurusu had produced.

"My cousin flew in from Tokyo to stay with me for a few more weeks until my parents are supposed to go back. I don't want to bother her with guests or anything."

After seeing the expressions on their faces, Amaya pretended to reconsider. "Do you promise to be very, very polite and quiet and calm and normal?" She queried. She didn't even know what normal was. The two nodded rigorously.

"Fine. Let me call her, and tell her what's going on. I'll be right back. Take care of my food." Shoving the package at them, Amaya slipped her phone out of her pocket and hit the speed dial.

As the dial tone rang, she stalked away. Her fingered twitched impatiently, nicking on the small chips in the surface and cracks in the design of the phone. Amaya shot Minene a quick text, before calling again.

"Minene?" Amaya queried. The woman had picked up seconds ago, her grouchy voice echoing in the girl's ears. "I have the food. There's a slight problem. Some of my friends from school are here at the cafe I got the food from, and are insisting to come over.

"I've already told them you're my cousin, so if you could assume the identity we created for this purpose, that would be great. I'm heading home now. Bye!" Before she could object, Amaya hung up.

Minene would be riled as soon as her friends left, but that was okay.

Why did she even want them over? Wasn't se supposed to be independent and invincible? Friends would only drag her down. And yet, she loved having them, lived having someone to care about and to tether her back to the real world.

Amaya gestured for her friends to follow her once she reached them. They linked their arms again and continued to where she directed them. Amaya remembered a scene much like this from her twelve-year-old days, with Mikuru, her best friend. The memory made her want to pull away; it hurt too much to remember. But she didn't, because of obvious reasons.

Minene's number was flashing on the screen as soon as the cell rang. Amaya reluctantly answered. "Hello? Ah, Chiyo!" Her sentences were cut off by Minene's angry yelling.

The future changed, but Amaya hoped her friends thought it was a noise in the other end of the line. She pretended to listen, but only then did she realize that the three had stopped walking. Mao and Hinata glanced at her with confused faces.

"Don't even come back home with those friends of yours!" Minene half-screamed. Amaya blinked. Minene was never so upset before, at least, not over this. Was she really that mad? Or did something happen? Amaya figured something else was going on, but she couldn't tell exactly what.

"Yes. Of course, Chiyo-chan. Right away."

Amaya turned to her friends. The ends of her fingers were worrying the fabric of her shirt, the patch that she had done the same thing to so many times. The threadbare hole in the hem. "Sorry, guys. I guess you heard?"

Mao nodded. "Your cousin sure is having a bad day," she remarked. "Sounded like she was angry enough to commit murder." Amaya chuckled at that.

"We all have days like that. She's a great person. She just has a lot going on with her life and I think something happened at home. Don't worry about it." Hinata laughed.

"See you Saturday?" The brunette questioned. The answer was on the tip of her tongue, but Amaya hesitated. What if Minene had something else for them to do? She kind of wanted to unravel the identities of more Diary Owners.

Amaya knew several, and she recalled the first names of many and the faces, but only the last names of some. The girl wanted to know more about the Fifth. And the Eight. The Eleventh was staying out of the picture, as was the Seventh and the Tenth. Amaya, of course, was also.

It was time to up her game.

"Yeah, you guys better get home. See ya later!" After bidding her friends goodbye, Amaya took a longer route to the abandoned building she and Minene would soon abandon as well. Amaya's cell began to ring, and she knew it was Akise.

"Hello?"

"Why hello. I do believe we've met before." The girl froze. Her eyes hardened. Who was this?

"I assure you I wouldn't remember if we had," Amaya said coldly. "I tend to have a talent of blocking unneeded things from my mind." The statement was a lie, but she needed information. 

"Really? You don't recognize my voice?" The man chuckled on the other end of the phone line. Amaya could hear wailing. The sound sent shivers down her spine. Who was that? Why did they sound so familiar? Was that...fire in the background? Her mind flashed to a day just over thirteen years old for her.

"How did you get this number?" She queried. The only answer was a chilling laugh. Amaya began to run, irrational fear creeping up over her spine.

Someone had just died. Of that, Amaya was certain.

"Oh Misayori-chan, you don't disappoint!" The voice laughed. Amaya was even more creeped out. How did he...no. No one knew she was alive. No one.

"That's not my last name!" Amaya screamed, her fingers threatening to damage the phone. The girl on the other end gave a sharp scream again before being abruptly cut off.

"Check the news tonight, Misayori-chan. We'll be waiting." The call ended. She stopped at the entrance to an alley, tears brimming in her eyes from the unwanted memories.

Amaya did the only rational thing to do at that point–took her anger and fear out on the brick wall.

A few streets away, a certain junior detective heard the sound of screaming and looked up, before shrugging and walking away.

The fearful, terrified scream made him look up again as it was abruptly cut off.

(Ooh, scary! Who do you think that person on the other end of the phone was? I'm sorry if this was kind of a cliffhanger. I didn't want it to be, but I wanted to leave off on a foreboding note. Please tell me what you thought! Thanks!)