Chapter 4
"Are you sure you want to do this now?"
"You're the one who wants me around. Stop making it sound like you're trying to change my mind," Neku muttered, sitting in the armchair the Composer has indicated as Joshua himself levitated one of the dining chairs over in front of him. Neku leaned back, trying to relax. Just because he was doing this now didn't mean he wasn't nervous.
Trust your Partner, and all that. And from what Joshua had said, Neku was going to be stuck with him for quite a while.
"You're going to have to take your shirt off."
"What?" Neku jerked as Joshua sat down on the chair in front of him, the Composer's knees almost knocking into Neku's.
"I need to touch your chest. Unless you'd prefer me to touch something else?" He had to choose now of all times to be a flirt?
"Ugh, fine. Just don't try fondling me, all right?" Neku pulled the headphones from around his neck and set them on the table, followed by peeling off his shirt. Joshua's eyes followed his movements (probably enjoy the show, that asshole) before finally settling on the two matching, almost touching scars on Neku's chest. The gunshot scars. Neku tried to ignore the focus on that patch of his chest. "Anything else you'd like me to strip?"
"Just that Player Pin, please." Of course Joshua would need to be able to root around in his head... Neku sighed, removing the pin from his pants and flicking it onto his shirt. Just don't try any funny business. Like Imprinting him with the desire to wear a lolita dress, or something.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Joshua responded to his thoughts with a smirk, which wasn't exactly a reassuring gesture now that Neku was completely defenseless. "You would probably be able to tell if I did anything, anyway. There are some benefits to being special." Neku wasn't entirely sure whether to believe him or not. "Now, close your eyes~"
"Hell no. I always knew you were a perve-!" A bright flash of light cut him off, and Neku pulled his arm over his face automatically, wishing he'd heeded Joshua's warning. The light subsided a bit, and Neku's eyes adjusted enough for him to be able to put his arm down and look at Joshua. The light obscured the Composer's features (and it was obvious that he was the Composer, now, with him glowing like that), but Neku could tell that they were older, ageless somehow, but there was still just enough of Joshua for Neku to make out. For his part, Neku decided to focus his eyes on a point somewhere above Joshua's head. "Nice sparkles."
"I don't sparkle." Joshua's voice was different, too, like one of those creepy multiple-people-voices they used in the movies, but Neku could hear the familiar glowering pout anyway. "I shimmer."
Neku bit his lip to keep from laughing. Of all the things to get offended over... "Fine, shimmer. Whatever."
Joshua chose to change the subject. "Are you sure you're ready? This is probably going to hurt a bit."
Was Neku ready to waste his entire life working under Joshua? Hell no. "Just get it over with," Neku said through gritted teeth.
Joshua smiled faintly―not a smirk, a real smile-and slowly reached out to lay shimmering fingers on Neku's chest, just above the marks of the gunshots. Neku didn't actually feel the touch, can't, because those fingers brought so much pain with them and Neku's last coherent thought was Only a bit? Seems like an understatement to me.
Hell, Neku'd almost rather be shot again. The only way he could really describe it was that Joshua had turned his soul inside out, except for that one thread that had been their Pact two years ago, and Neku clung to that tiny golden thread with everything he had, even as another, stronger bond wrapped around it. The power coursing through Neku's soul withdrew, and the pain slowly dulled, turning into a feeling like Neku had eaten way too much good food. Except, bizarrely, he was hungry when he became aware of his body again, Joshua's hand still on his chest.
"Sorry." Neku stopped staring at the hand on his chest to look up at Joshua, surprised by the apology. He knew somehow that it was sincere, too―he could sense just enough of Joshua's emotions through the new bond to tell. The Composer's face was twisted by a grimace, and Neku wondered if their old Pact, which suddenly seemed so weak compared to... whatever this was, had caused Joshua to feel some of the pain, too. "That wound up hurting you more than I expected." More honesty; if taking the Conductor position meant that Joshua was actually going to tell him things, Neku wasn't going to bitch too much.
Then again, it was Joshua, and things were never that simple with him.
"Just as long as we don't have to do this again." There was still the fuzzy feeling of Joshua's power in his body, and Neku felt the Composer do something to his body, a hot rush flashing through him for a moment. "Wait, what was that?!"
"Mmm... You never told me that you were allergic to peanuts." Neku could make out a slight smile through the glow still surrounding Joshua.
"Kind of unimportant when we're fighting for our lives, don't you think?"
"But what if someone had whipped up peanut butter Noise?"
Neku snorted. "It's only a minor allergy. I get hives for a day or two, that's all."
"Well, you shouldn't have to worry about it again." Hidden benefits to having friends who could manipulate reality, apparently. Neku felt Joshua doing something else, like some kind of cold liquid was seeping into his scalp, and the once-Player reached up to finger his hair automatically. "And you won't have to spend a fortune on hair dye anymore."
"My wallet thanks you." Neku managed to pull his hand out of his hair, although he couldn't help trying to stare at it. "Anything else?"
"A little bit of internal scarring that I may as well take care of now." Neku felt every bit, like someone was setting off little glowing lights inside his body; the gunshot wounds, Noise-induced injuries that had never quite healed, older wounds from the streets of Shibuya itself. "How did you break your leg?"
"Rollerskating. I couldn't stop fast enough and toppled down a flight of stairs." It was the reason he was never fully comfortable on Beat's skateboard, or anything else that rolled without brakes. Neku felt Joshua do something to his teeth-fixing cavities, maybe? It was kind of like he'd bitten into a pile of crushed ice. "Are we done?"
A smirk behind the glow. "Unless you're unhappy being circumcised~"
Neku jerked in response, blushing furiously. Stupid flirty Composer... "Yeah, we're done." He grabbed Joshua's wrist and pushed the hand off his chest.
As soon as he let go of Joshua's hand, Shibuya roared in Neku's ears.
Well, okay, it wasn't really his ears, the same way he wasn't really full of good food, just that bloated fuzzy feeling. It was more like that moment when you realize that a bug has landed on you, except that there were bugs all over, and holy shit, those bugs were people. And Joshua was still right there, a gigantic moth sitting on top of a pile of ants, or maybe a praying mantis looking for some Player aphids to chew on and Neku really, really needed to stop thinking about bugs.
"I...Wow." Neku tried to wrap his mind around it some, and failed miserably in silence for a moment. He "watched" the people moving through the late afternoon for a while; a girl in Dogenzaka was panicking because she'd lost her purse, a boy of about twelve stared in familiar wonder at the Udagawa mural, a man at the station complained about missing his train. Neku looked towards the wall-window and grinned.
Joshua turned the spa- shimmer off, smirking to himself. Neku ignored him to stumble out of the chair and dart to the window, pressing his face against the glass. If he concentrated, Neku could hear what an individual person was thinking, sense how they were doing, but he just watched the whole thing for a few moments. Finally, Neku looked over his shoulder and where Joshua had settled into the couch.
"...Is it always like this?"
"It's a bit busy right now, but yes, I suppose so." Something of a genuine smile crept into the smirk, but Neku ignored it in favor of pressing himself against the window again.
"No wonder you never sleep..." Then again, this was an everyday thing to Joshua, wasn't it? It probably did get boring eventually...
"Dear, if you leave any more nose marks on my window I'm going to make you wash it yourself." Neku jerked his face away from the glass, looking over his shoulder at the Composer, who was texting someone on that obnoxious orange cell phone he'd used during the Game. Neku just shrugged in response.
"Sorry..." He had too much energy to sit down, so Neku grabbed Joshua's free hand and pulled the Composer up and towards the door. "Come on, I promised the others I'd meet them for ramen." He was already late, but Neku was in too good a mood to really care.
Joshua managed to pull free of Neku's hold on his wrist. "And you intend to go to Dogenzaka in your slippers, I assume?" Neku froze in the midst of fumbling with the doorknob to blush. That was one of the stupider things he'd done today.
"Oh, yeah... Thanks."
"You're the one who wants me around. Stop making it sound like you're trying to change my mind," Neku muttered, sitting in the armchair the Composer has indicated as Joshua himself levitated one of the dining chairs over in front of him. Neku leaned back, trying to relax. Just because he was doing this now didn't mean he wasn't nervous.
Trust your Partner, and all that. And from what Joshua had said, Neku was going to be stuck with him for quite a while.
"You're going to have to take your shirt off."
"What?" Neku jerked as Joshua sat down on the chair in front of him, the Composer's knees almost knocking into Neku's.
"I need to touch your chest. Unless you'd prefer me to touch something else?" He had to choose now of all times to be a flirt?
"Ugh, fine. Just don't try fondling me, all right?" Neku pulled the headphones from around his neck and set them on the table, followed by peeling off his shirt. Joshua's eyes followed his movements (probably enjoy the show, that asshole) before finally settling on the two matching, almost touching scars on Neku's chest. The gunshot scars. Neku tried to ignore the focus on that patch of his chest. "Anything else you'd like me to strip?"
"Just that Player Pin, please." Of course Joshua would need to be able to root around in his head... Neku sighed, removing the pin from his pants and flicking it onto his shirt. Just don't try any funny business. Like Imprinting him with the desire to wear a lolita dress, or something.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Joshua responded to his thoughts with a smirk, which wasn't exactly a reassuring gesture now that Neku was completely defenseless. "You would probably be able to tell if I did anything, anyway. There are some benefits to being special." Neku wasn't entirely sure whether to believe him or not. "Now, close your eyes~"
"Hell no. I always knew you were a perve-!" A bright flash of light cut him off, and Neku pulled his arm over his face automatically, wishing he'd heeded Joshua's warning. The light subsided a bit, and Neku's eyes adjusted enough for him to be able to put his arm down and look at Joshua. The light obscured the Composer's features (and it was obvious that he was the Composer, now, with him glowing like that), but Neku could tell that they were older, ageless somehow, but there was still just enough of Joshua for Neku to make out. For his part, Neku decided to focus his eyes on a point somewhere above Joshua's head. "Nice sparkles."
"I don't sparkle." Joshua's voice was different, too, like one of those creepy multiple-people-voices they used in the movies, but Neku could hear the familiar glowering pout anyway. "I shimmer."
Neku bit his lip to keep from laughing. Of all the things to get offended over... "Fine, shimmer. Whatever."
Joshua chose to change the subject. "Are you sure you're ready? This is probably going to hurt a bit."
Was Neku ready to waste his entire life working under Joshua? Hell no. "Just get it over with," Neku said through gritted teeth.
Joshua smiled faintly―not a smirk, a real smile-and slowly reached out to lay shimmering fingers on Neku's chest, just above the marks of the gunshots. Neku didn't actually feel the touch, can't, because those fingers brought so much pain with them and Neku's last coherent thought was Only a bit? Seems like an understatement to me.
Hell, Neku'd almost rather be shot again. The only way he could really describe it was that Joshua had turned his soul inside out, except for that one thread that had been their Pact two years ago, and Neku clung to that tiny golden thread with everything he had, even as another, stronger bond wrapped around it. The power coursing through Neku's soul withdrew, and the pain slowly dulled, turning into a feeling like Neku had eaten way too much good food. Except, bizarrely, he was hungry when he became aware of his body again, Joshua's hand still on his chest.
"Sorry." Neku stopped staring at the hand on his chest to look up at Joshua, surprised by the apology. He knew somehow that it was sincere, too―he could sense just enough of Joshua's emotions through the new bond to tell. The Composer's face was twisted by a grimace, and Neku wondered if their old Pact, which suddenly seemed so weak compared to... whatever this was, had caused Joshua to feel some of the pain, too. "That wound up hurting you more than I expected." More honesty; if taking the Conductor position meant that Joshua was actually going to tell him things, Neku wasn't going to bitch too much.
Then again, it was Joshua, and things were never that simple with him.
"Just as long as we don't have to do this again." There was still the fuzzy feeling of Joshua's power in his body, and Neku felt the Composer do something to his body, a hot rush flashing through him for a moment. "Wait, what was that?!"
"Mmm... You never told me that you were allergic to peanuts." Neku could make out a slight smile through the glow still surrounding Joshua.
"Kind of unimportant when we're fighting for our lives, don't you think?"
"But what if someone had whipped up peanut butter Noise?"
Neku snorted. "It's only a minor allergy. I get hives for a day or two, that's all."
"Well, you shouldn't have to worry about it again." Hidden benefits to having friends who could manipulate reality, apparently. Neku felt Joshua doing something else, like some kind of cold liquid was seeping into his scalp, and the once-Player reached up to finger his hair automatically. "And you won't have to spend a fortune on hair dye anymore."
"My wallet thanks you." Neku managed to pull his hand out of his hair, although he couldn't help trying to stare at it. "Anything else?"
"A little bit of internal scarring that I may as well take care of now." Neku felt every bit, like someone was setting off little glowing lights inside his body; the gunshot wounds, Noise-induced injuries that had never quite healed, older wounds from the streets of Shibuya itself. "How did you break your leg?"
"Rollerskating. I couldn't stop fast enough and toppled down a flight of stairs." It was the reason he was never fully comfortable on Beat's skateboard, or anything else that rolled without brakes. Neku felt Joshua do something to his teeth-fixing cavities, maybe? It was kind of like he'd bitten into a pile of crushed ice. "Are we done?"
A smirk behind the glow. "Unless you're unhappy being circumcised~"
Neku jerked in response, blushing furiously. Stupid flirty Composer... "Yeah, we're done." He grabbed Joshua's wrist and pushed the hand off his chest.
As soon as he let go of Joshua's hand, Shibuya roared in Neku's ears.
Well, okay, it wasn't really his ears, the same way he wasn't really full of good food, just that bloated fuzzy feeling. It was more like that moment when you realize that a bug has landed on you, except that there were bugs all over, and holy shit, those bugs were people. And Joshua was still right there, a gigantic moth sitting on top of a pile of ants, or maybe a praying mantis looking for some Player aphids to chew on and Neku really, really needed to stop thinking about bugs.
"I...Wow." Neku tried to wrap his mind around it some, and failed miserably in silence for a moment. He "watched" the people moving through the late afternoon for a while; a girl in Dogenzaka was panicking because she'd lost her purse, a boy of about twelve stared in familiar wonder at the Udagawa mural, a man at the station complained about missing his train. Neku looked towards the wall-window and grinned.
Joshua turned the spa- shimmer off, smirking to himself. Neku ignored him to stumble out of the chair and dart to the window, pressing his face against the glass. If he concentrated, Neku could hear what an individual person was thinking, sense how they were doing, but he just watched the whole thing for a few moments. Finally, Neku looked over his shoulder and where Joshua had settled into the couch.
"...Is it always like this?"
"It's a bit busy right now, but yes, I suppose so." Something of a genuine smile crept into the smirk, but Neku ignored it in favor of pressing himself against the window again.
"No wonder you never sleep..." Then again, this was an everyday thing to Joshua, wasn't it? It probably did get boring eventually...
"Dear, if you leave any more nose marks on my window I'm going to make you wash it yourself." Neku jerked his face away from the glass, looking over his shoulder at the Composer, who was texting someone on that obnoxious orange cell phone he'd used during the Game. Neku just shrugged in response.
"Sorry..." He had too much energy to sit down, so Neku grabbed Joshua's free hand and pulled the Composer up and towards the door. "Come on, I promised the others I'd meet them for ramen." He was already late, but Neku was in too good a mood to really care.
Joshua managed to pull free of Neku's hold on his wrist. "And you intend to go to Dogenzaka in your slippers, I assume?" Neku froze in the midst of fumbling with the doorknob to blush. That was one of the stupider things he'd done today.
"Oh, yeah... Thanks."