Day 49: Noon - Wicker Street
He really should have known better.
Despite Sheena's insistence, he hadn't found so much as a sniff of a music store in this town. There'd been an electronics shop, but one, he didn't have any money, and two, he didn't have any cds to play even if he bought one of their lame cd players. CD? Seriously? Talk about old school.
Which left him ( Read more... )
Despite Sheena's insistence, he hadn't found so much as a sniff of a music store in this town. There'd been an electronics shop, but one, he didn't have any money, and two, he didn't have any cds to play even if he bought one of their lame cd players. CD? Seriously? Talk about old school.
Which left him ( Read more... )
As for Shiki, Neku dodged eye-contact for a second or two, trying to collect his thoughts and feelings on the matter. It'd looked for all the world like Shiki. He'd felt the sting of the bullet in his chest, felt the blood, but this morning there was nothing. Not even a bruise. It had to have been some kind of illusion. Besides that, Shiki wouldn't have done that. She wouldn't have acted that way. She-
Neku was pulled from his thoughts when Mr. H mentioned she'd been at the institute for some time before he'd arrived. This was the first he'd heard of it. If she'd come right after her first week in the game, it might make sense. He'd been drawn from just the day after he'd finished the game too. But... Shiki'd been there at the end too. This place might mess with time, but this was getting way too confusing.
He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, "It just wasn't. Something was off. She wasn't acting like herself."
Neku let out a sigh and scratched his head. There were an awful lot of things here that he had no words for. A lot of situations that left him with little to say, but the things that'd been weighing on him since yesterday still held heavy.
"Also," he tried, frowning for a moment, "about yesterday. I didn't mean- Look. I trust you a hell of a lot more than Minamimoto. And even if I didn't know you, I'd know CAT and how much he loves Shibuya. Whoever or whatever you are, I don't think that'll change." An overly simple explanation maybe, but it was something he could understand. And in the end, it was enough to know that. Josh, he was almost sure, had known all the same things, and he'd still trusted Hanekoma. So maybe it was enough.
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And on the topic of Shiki, Neku hadn't exactly elaborated on what 'she wasn't acting like herself' meant, which left it up to Sanae to be creative. He knew how close the two had been, though - why else would Megumi pick her as the kid's second entry fee? - and figured that the distinction had to have been a significant one. Something personal. Josh hadn't been all too hot on telling him what he'd shortly before he'd 'died' that one night either, now that he thought about it.
"I get it. Probably somethin' or someone here messin' with ya, 'cause she...yeah, I get it." He nodded, hoping that what little he could say would be reassuring. Poor kid had been through enough with a three-fold Game and all.
There would have been another awkward gap on Sanae's part at this point, but again, leave it to Neku to inadvertently keep the conversation going. "Hey, thanks, Phones. Means a lot to me, serious." He patted his chest in the general area of his heart. "I mean, really wish I could've let ya in on that stuff, but classified's classified, ya know." He pulled a face. "Pretty sure I'm gonna catch some heat for it all when--if I get back, but...like I said, what I had to do."
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It was good to hear that he wasn't the only one the institute was messing with. Even if it totally sucked at the time, at least it was some confirmation that whatever that'd been last night pointing a gun at him, it hadn't been Shiki. But if Shiki had been here before him and was gone now, she hadn't-
"Hey- when you said Shiki was here before, she didn't- Did she just check out, or what? Do you know?" He'd heard of plenty of people who just went missing in the middle of the day, but for each of those, he was sure there were plenty more who died, just like Josh. If it wasn't the other patients, there were monsters enough to do the job.
The rest, well... that was Hanekoma's business. Whatever business it was. There was obviously some kind of system in place, but players weren't exactly supposed to be let in on it. He could say he was sorry, but it wasn't a complete truth. He owed Mr. H a lot though, and as long as they were all on the same side when it came to this institute place, that was what mattered.
"You know any good places to fill up? I doubt this place has a coffee shop, but what's the next best thing?"
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For Neku's sake, really, he hoped Shiki was properly back in Shibuya or something and in her real body; the Game had been won, after all. There were always other possibilities, though. He remembered that on the day he'd arrived, when he'd first run into Shiki and Josh, both of them had said something about a visit from a fake Neku, one who had looked just like the real thing but who had acted totally differently. Scary business - and stuff that he still hadn't figured out yet.
"Eh...there's a place 'round here that's got coffee - and steaks, I think, too. I went there last time. Can't remember the name for the life of me." Sanae pulled out the coupon book and flipped through it. "Oh yeah - this place." He turned the book around and tapped the coupon in question. "'Twin Pines'. Not too bad. Think it's just down the street, but I can't be too sure."
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He glanced over the coupon and shoved his hands in his pockets, raising a curious eyebrow. Sit-down restaurants weren't really his style, but they usually had better food. Might be worth checking out. The burger place sounded decent too. Had to be at least a little better than the cafeteria stuff.
"Right. I'll check it out. Guess I'll see y'round. I'll let you know how it goes with the pins." That said, he flipped the hood up on his jacket and took off through the rain.
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