Fic: Because Life Can Never Be Simple (Files 26-30)
Title: Because Life Can Never Be Simple
Author: anigirl15
Rating: PG-13 for the f-word
Warnings: Spoilers for EVERYTHING! (Well, you don't actually have to have read the Secret Reports, but I'll spoil them for you if you haven't.) My theories and ideas about various things in the TWEWY universe. Swearing.
Summary: Neku knows he shouldn't agree to anything Joshua proposes any more. He knows, yet he willingly starts a chain of events that will eventually shatter the boundaries of his world and shake Shibuya to its core. Stupid Joshua.
Notes: This is the companion fic to It’s Your Fault It’s Complicated, which is posted at twewyslash. These are the exact same story told in two different parallel worlds: one world where Joshua falls for Neku, and one world where he does not. This also means that both stories are VERY similar, and you should probably just pick one and stick with it, since reading both will involve a LOT of re-reading. If you wish to read the other story, you can find the link below, or click the cut to read this one.
Because Life Can Never Be Simple (Files 26 - 30)
[first] [back one] [forwards]
[jump to the other side]
[File26]
Neku glanced at his desk and did a double-take. He walked over and let his bag fall to the floor, then reached forward. He paused, his hand inches from the wood. He didn’t know which pin to grab for. Tentatively he picked up the one on the left. He put it down, then grabbed the one on the right. Nothing. There was no difference between the two. Granted, he wouldn’t put it past Joshua to drop a second pin just to mess with him, but somehow he got the feeling that this wasn’t Joshua’s doing. Not this time.
He held the one in his hand up, studying it in the early evening light. Alright, so he had made a Player Pin. Now the question was how. He had to have done it last night, there wasn’t any other time he could’ve. What was the last thing he did? He’d… thought about it. Well, not like trying would hurt.
Neku sat down in his chair and closed one hand around empty air, the other hand still holding the Player Pin. He slid his eyes shut and concentrated on the pin. He turned it over in his mind, feeling through it, paying attention to all the parts that made it up. The delicate intricacies that the Game was built upon. Whoever came up with the first Player Pin had to be nothing shy of a brilliant genius. Not to mention the most sadistic creature on the planet.
Neku startled as he felt an object in his empty hand. He opened his eyes and looked down to see a blank pin in his left hand. After a moment, the thought went through his head unconsciously. Player Pin. Black, with a white skull. Mr. H.’s design.
No sooner did he think it than the image appeared on the pin. He looked down in surprise, and suddenly his head spun. He leaned forward, catching his head in his arms, all of a sudden exhausted. His head felt fuzzy and he couldn’t think straight. He groaned into his arms. “W-what the hell…?”
His vision blurred as he looked down at the now three pins on his desk. If this was the effort it took to make one, he probably couldn’t manage another without passing out in his chair.
“Neku! Dinner’s ready!” His dad’s voice floated through his door. Neku gave a soft groan and stood up. He leaned against his desk, waiting for the world to stop spinning around him. A few moments later, the voice called again. “Neku?”
“Coming!” he replied, rubbing his temples. His head wouldn’t stop pounding, but at least he didn’t feel like passing out anymore. A few seconds later, he pushed off the desk and headed for his door. He didn’t fall down at all. Well, at least that was encouraging.
[File27]
Shiki grabbed his arm and dragged him into yet another store. Neku rolled his eyes as he let her pull him along, but he couldn’t keep the smile completely off his face. It had been a long time since the two of them had just hung out. They were halfway through their first year of high school now, and with fall midterms safely behind them, they finally had some time for a much-needed break.
“Ohmigawd, Neku isn’t this like the cutest little bag ever?!”
Neku took one look at the bright green purse that Shiki was holding up and made a face. “If you say so…”
Shiki puffed out her cheeks and pouted at him. “Oh, come on. I would have thought that you’d at least pick up a bit of a sense for these things, Neku!”
Neku chuckled and scratched the back of his head, his fingertips briefly brushing the headphones that sat around his neck. “Well, I didn’t need to pay much attention when the trends followed me…” he muttered softly. Shiki gave him an almost pitying look, and he quickly smiled at her. Somehow, she wasn’t reassured.
“Neku…”
“I’m over it. Don’t worry. Hey, what about this one?” He picked it up and held it for her to take. She made another face at him.
“That clashes horribly with our uniform! Honestly-”
Neku laughed. “I know. It was a joke. Really, Shiki, give me some credit.”
She stared at him and surprise, and suddenly giggled. “You’re right. You’re not that hopeless.” After a moment she smiled at him and looked to the floor. “You know, I’m glad we get to do things like this. A part of me was really worried that we… that we’d never come back, you know?” She smiled sadly and looked around the store.
Neku put a hand on her shoulder. “But we’re here now. That’s what matters. All of us made it back.”
“Even Rhyme.”
Both of them seemed to wince at the memory. After a few awkward moments, Shiki turned back to the display racks with renewed vigor. “Alright! It’s getting cold out, Neku, so let’s get you some new clothes for the winter!”
“I don’t need new clothes,” Neku protested, even as he let himself be dragged once more. Shiki simply giggled and pushed him along. After a moment they reached a rack of clothes, and Shiki let him go to start ruffling through. Neku groaned. “Shiki, I don’t like Sheep Heavenly.”
“Aw, but they have some of the cutest shirts!” She pulled one up and held it up for him. “How’s this?”
Neku raised an eyebrow. “Plaid.”
“I know that!” Shiki said with a pout. “What do you think about it?”
“Shiki, I’m not wearing plaid.”
“But it’ll be cute on you!” She held up the shirt in front of her, imagining what it would be like if he put it on. Neku rolled his eyes again.
“Um, excuse me…”
Shiki looked over Neku’s shoulder at someone. “Oh, sorry, are we in the way? Neku, move so she can get by.”
Neku shrugged and tried to move to the side, but the rows really weren’t meant for multiple people passing each other. He glanced at the girl as she pushed by, and suddenly froze.
“You!” It was the other girl from the Game who he’d talked to back then. The one whose partner he’d…
Her head snapped up in surprise. “Oh! It’s you!”
“I, uh…” he was suddenly aware how very awkward this conversation was about to become.
“You’re… Neku, right? Thank you.” Shiki looked to him in surprise, then back at her. A smile spread across the girl’s face. “We won. Yumi stopped goofing off and…” she looked down at the ground. “Thank you so much…” Her eyes started tearing up. “If you hadn’t helped us… I don’t know if we…”
Shiki turned to Neku in confusion. “Neku, who’s this?”
“She… she was a Player a little while ago. I don’t actually know your name,” Neku said, turning to her.
“Oh. I’m Haruka.” She bowed. “Fourteen years old, currently a third-year in junior high school. I like reading and eating mochi, and I dislike karaoke. I have a younger brother and an older sister. My best subject is science, and my favorite color is purple.” Her smile became a bit pained. “I was crushed to death in a building collapse a bit over a month ago.”
“Well, that was a bit more than I asked for,” Neku muttered under his breath. He felt a hand grab his arm, and he turned to Shiki.
She pulled him close, and leaned in and whispered. “Neku? Why are you still getting involved in the Game?”
He cringed. “It’s complicated.”
“Neku, you’re not telling me things again.” She wore the same pained expression that made Neku just drop the farce and tell her everything. But he couldn’t. Not with the threat of Joshua hovering over his shoulder, who was only as benevolent as he decided to be.
“I’m sorry.”
“Neku…”
“Shiki…!” He groaned. “Can we… please talk about this… later, or something?”
“Am I missing something?”
Neku tried his best not to turn to Haruka and snap at her. “Nothing. It’s nothing at all.” It was very tempting to just slide into the UG and walk away from both of them. This was all Joshua’s fault. All of it. Everything.
[File28]
“Here.” He dropped the pencil bag in front of Joshua. Joshua looked at it with mild disinterest, then back to Neku. He slowly reached forward and pulled the pouch into his lap. Joshua opened it and took out one of the objects within, turning it over in his hand. Neku watched him, trying not to appear as nervous as he felt. “I think there’s twenty-seven or so in there. Definitely more than twenty.”
Joshua shut his eyes and closed his hand around the Player Pin. His expression was still indifferent, and Neku quickly pushed down the rising panic. After a moment, Joshua turned to him. “Good work.”
Neku tried to keep his sigh of relief as quiet as possible, but Joshua seemed to notice it anyway. He smirked. With a flick of his hand, the pencil bag vanished. “I was worried I’d have to postpone the next Game. You always come through for me, Neku. Hee hee.” That tone of voice was way too smug.
“I made the deadline, right?”
“You did.” Joshua smirked to himself and stretched, leaning back in his chair. “I see you haven’t needed my help getting out of the UG recently.”
“Of course not. I can do it myself now.” He gave a small smirk. Any independence he could get from Joshua was very much a good thing.
“That’s good. Hopefully this means you won’t be causing any more problems with my Game.” The look he shot Neku sent chills down the teen’s spine. A second later it was gone. “Next week, by the way.”
Neku gave an indifferent shrug, but his stomach suddenly felt significantly less stable than it had just been. Despite the distance Joshua had guaranteed him, he couldn’t help thinking to himself. He was part of the system now, the same system that had tortured him and Shiki and Beat and Rhyme and all those nameless Players who had been erased. Was what he was doing really any different? What happened to the people who didn’t play the Reaper’s Game after they died? Was he really just helping torture all of them with a false hope of reincarnation before the Noise and the Reapers snatched it away?
“Hello, earth to Neku, come in Neku.”
He snapped out of his thoughts and glared at Joshua. “What?”
Joshua chuckled. “Meet on the athletic field at six tonight. Don’t be late.”
“Josh, I can already-”
“Different training.” Joshua smirked. “Different training.”
Neku raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
[File29]
It was dark out. It was dark, and it was cold, but Joshua stood until the bright floodlights of the track field in little more than his short-sleeved shirt from the Game, and Neku couldn’t help but wonder whether Joshua had his own personal warm pocket or if he just didn’t feel the temperature. Neku could swear he could see his own breath, but it was a bit hard to tell. He shivered and Joshua smirked. “Cold, Neku?”
“Shut up.”
Joshua chuckled and moved to the cart next to him, piled high with volleyballs from PE.
“Wait.”
Joshua turned to him.
“Let me tell Shiki.”
The Composer stared at him, annoyed. “Why would you want to do a silly thing like that?”
“She trusts me, Josh,” like I trust you he wanted to add but he knew that if he admitted it then Joshua would use it against him. “I don’t want to keep lying and hiding things from her. It’s only hurting her, and I don’t want to do that. Not to her.”
Joshua sighed. “If it’s becoming a problem, I can erase her memory, you know.”
“No!” Neku startled. “You are not messing with her head!”
“Then you can do it.” Joshua’s gaze was blank. “You likely have that ability by now as well.”
Neku gawked for a moment. “I’m… nobody is messing with her head! Joshua, there are things that you don’t do to people. You don’t just go messing with people’s memories! It’s…”
“It’s what, Neku? Wrong? Immoral? You’re probably best ridding yourself of those silly misconceptions now while they’re still reasonably fresh in your head. We are the people who don’t care what humanity deems good or bad. We have a job to perform. We do it, by any means necessary. There’s no need for ethics.”
A heavy silence hung between the two of them. Neku turned over Joshua’s words in his head, trying to fathom the mentality that had produced them. Did Joshua really have no concept of personal boundaries, no morals at all? Neku didn’t want to believe it, even though deep down, he didn’t doubt it in the least.
After a moment Neku sneezed. The quiet now adequately broken, he took a deep breath. “So, can I…?”
“No, Neku. You may not tell her.”
“Joshua!”
“I meant what I said,” Joshua snapped, truly glaring at Neku now. Neku clenched his teeth, knowing that he’d lost. He stared at the ground, not wanting to meet Joshua’s gaze. “There’s a very simple solution to this prob-”
“I WON’T ERASE HER MEMORIES!” Neku screamed, loudly enough that if anyone was still reasonably near the school, they probably heard him. His voice echoed around in the night for a few moments before fading away into the background of Shibuya. He was breathing hard, puffs of warm air visibly coming from his mouth now. He ventured a look back up at Joshua, and tensed when he noticed the Composer’s smirk. “… What?!”
“Nothing~”
Neku glared at him. “Somehow I doubt it’s-”
He cut off as a volleyball hit him square in the face, knocking him clean over. Neku lay on the ground for a few seconds while his brain processed the stinging pain that his entire face was now in. It wasn’t until the sound of Joshua’s laughter finally floated over to him that he sat up. “What the hell, Joshua?!”
“You came here to train, not bother me with irrelevant questions.” Joshua was standing where he’d been before, one hand on his waist, smirking. Three volleyballs floated in the air around him. Neku stared at them in surprise. “RG fighting. It’s a skill that you can’t underestimate the usefulness of.”
“That’s not exactly subtle,” Neku pointed out as he pulled himself to his feet, keeping a wary eye on the objects.
Joshua giggled and flipped his hair. “Neku, since when have I ever been subtle?”
Neku rolled his eyes. “I thought you’d-” Suddenly he moved to his left, dodging another ball. He threw a look of surprise at Joshua. The other chuckled.
“Pick one up, Neku. First things first.”
Neku cast a skeptical glance at one of the volleyballs now lying near his feet. “You mean without touching it.”
“But of course.”
Neku stared blankly at the volleyball. After a moment, he reached a hand out towards it. Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t done something like this before. That had just been in the UG… with the help of his psychs…
A couple of seconds later, the ball wiggled and slowly started floating upwards. Neku winced, and it quickly fell to the ground again. Okay, so it had been a lot easier with the psychs.
“Harder without using the pins as a crutch, isn’t it?” Neku glared at him, and Joshua smirked back.
“Stop reading my thoughts, Joshua.”
“Is it so hard to accept that you’re just easy to predict?” Neku caught the movement of the ball out of the corner of his eye. Without even thinking he brought up his arms to block his face. There was a loud FOOM, and when he opened his eyes, the volleyball was embedded into the ground next to him, smoldering slightly, a burn mark along one side. Joshua sighed. “At least you didn’t tear a hole in the UG this time.”
“Would’ve been your fault if I did…” Neku mumbled, turning back to the volleyball he’d been trying to lift. Suddenly another collided with his face. “JOSH!”
“Wasn’t me.” The Composer smiled innocently. Neku wanted nothing more than to hurl something back at him. Preferably something heavy. Like a vending machine.
[File30]
“Hey, Neku, do you see that?”
Neku turned to Shiki to find her staring out the window. “See what?”
She pointed. “That light up next to the rooftop fence. Kiyoko said she doesn’t see anything, but there’s definitely something there.”
Neku glanced at her then looked to where she was pointing. His heart skipped at beat as he spotted Joshua, hands gripping the fence, leaning forward enough that if he let go, he’d plummet to the ground four floors below. Giant wings of white light spilled from his back.
“So, do you see it?” He was startled back by Shiki nudging him.
“… Yeah, there’s something there alright…”
She smiled. “I knew it. Maybe it has something to do with…” her voice lowered, “you know…” She looked around the classroom. “Too bad Joshua isn’t here, or we could ask him, too.” Neku turned and headed for the door, and Shiki started after him. “Where are you going?”
“See if I can find Joshua.” Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie.
On the stairwell to the roof, he paused. He didn’t feel anyone looking at him, but he couldn’t help look around just to be sure. Satisfied that no one was around, he slipped into the UG and walked out onto the roof.
“You’re here.” Joshua said it with a smirk, as Neku walked around the corner and up to the fence right behind him. Neku just stared at the brilliant wings before him. Joshua chuckled. “Do you want to see yours?”
Neku startled. “My what?”
“You have wings, too. Hee hee.”
Neku rolled his eyes and glared, shivering a bit in the cold. “If I say no, do I have to go through the annoyance of learning to use them anyway?”
Joshua chucked. “Don’t worry. There’s a trick to these. Mr. H. taught me it.” He glanced at Neku over his shoulder. “First get on this side of the fence.”
Neku looked warily down at the foot-wide ledge that Joshua so easily stood on that was the only thing between him and a nasty, nasty fall if he complied. Neku looked back to Joshua and bit his lower lip. He gaze fell to his feet and he mumbled something. He didn’t catch Joshua smirk in response.
“I’m sorry, what was that, Neku?”
He could feel his face flush a bit. “If you say you’ll stop me if I start to fall… I’ll trust you.”
Joshua smiled, but there was definitely a smirk hidden beneath it. “Of course, Neku~”
Neku gripped the fence. After a moment he reached up and started climbing over. Joshua watched him as he pulled himself over the top of the fence and slowly lowered himself down. He placed his feet on the ledge and let out an unsteady breath. “Now what?”
“Face outwards.”
Neku cast him a look. It wasn’t angry, or annoyed, or anything like that. It was almost like he was just reassuring himself that Joshua was still there, just in case he slipped. Because he trusted him.
Slowly he turned around, putting his back to the fence. He still maintained his death grip on the metal, his heart pounding in his chest. Now he could see the nothing that was between him and the ground far below.
“Now lean forward. Like this.” Joshua adjusted his grip and tilted his body forwards, into the same position that Neku had first seen him in. His head hung over the side of the building, and suddenly the updrafts rushed through his hair. His wings opened and arched gracefully behind him. After a moment he opened his eyes and turned to Neku, a small grin on his face. “What are you waiting for?”
Neku quickly snapped his gaze away. He took one more look down and squeezed his eyes shut. He changed his grip to the way that Joshua had done, and slowly leaned forwards, arms trembling.
The first gust of wind hit him clear in the face, and his eyes snapped open. He wasn’t seeing the ground. He was just seeing… something. The wind rushed past him, sending an exhilarating feeling through his whole being. He felt… truly, completely free. Something spread outwards from his back, and the feeling only increased. A smile, like the stupid smile of a kid on their first carousel, appeared on his face.
He didn’t even realize one hand had let go of the fence until he felt Joshua’s grip on his wrist. He turned in surprise, and that’s when he saw one. A mass of white light next to his shoulder, curving and connecting to his back. He turned to the other side, and sure enough, there was a second one.
“Pretty, aren’t they?” Joshua grinned and slowly pulled Neku’s hand back to the fence. He leaned back and gripped it weakly, hands trembling, legs ready to give out underneath him. He had wings.
[CloseFiles]
Comments/critique are much appreciated.
Author: anigirl15
Rating: PG-13 for the f-word
Warnings: Spoilers for EVERYTHING! (Well, you don't actually have to have read the Secret Reports, but I'll spoil them for you if you haven't.) My theories and ideas about various things in the TWEWY universe. Swearing.
Summary: Neku knows he shouldn't agree to anything Joshua proposes any more. He knows, yet he willingly starts a chain of events that will eventually shatter the boundaries of his world and shake Shibuya to its core. Stupid Joshua.
Notes: This is the companion fic to It’s Your Fault It’s Complicated, which is posted at twewyslash. These are the exact same story told in two different parallel worlds: one world where Joshua falls for Neku, and one world where he does not. This also means that both stories are VERY similar, and you should probably just pick one and stick with it, since reading both will involve a LOT of re-reading. If you wish to read the other story, you can find the link below, or click the cut to read this one.
Because Life Can Never Be Simple (Files 26 - 30)
[first] [back one] [forwards]
[jump to the other side]
[File26]
Neku glanced at his desk and did a double-take. He walked over and let his bag fall to the floor, then reached forward. He paused, his hand inches from the wood. He didn’t know which pin to grab for. Tentatively he picked up the one on the left. He put it down, then grabbed the one on the right. Nothing. There was no difference between the two. Granted, he wouldn’t put it past Joshua to drop a second pin just to mess with him, but somehow he got the feeling that this wasn’t Joshua’s doing. Not this time.
He held the one in his hand up, studying it in the early evening light. Alright, so he had made a Player Pin. Now the question was how. He had to have done it last night, there wasn’t any other time he could’ve. What was the last thing he did? He’d… thought about it. Well, not like trying would hurt.
Neku sat down in his chair and closed one hand around empty air, the other hand still holding the Player Pin. He slid his eyes shut and concentrated on the pin. He turned it over in his mind, feeling through it, paying attention to all the parts that made it up. The delicate intricacies that the Game was built upon. Whoever came up with the first Player Pin had to be nothing shy of a brilliant genius. Not to mention the most sadistic creature on the planet.
Neku startled as he felt an object in his empty hand. He opened his eyes and looked down to see a blank pin in his left hand. After a moment, the thought went through his head unconsciously. Player Pin. Black, with a white skull. Mr. H.’s design.
No sooner did he think it than the image appeared on the pin. He looked down in surprise, and suddenly his head spun. He leaned forward, catching his head in his arms, all of a sudden exhausted. His head felt fuzzy and he couldn’t think straight. He groaned into his arms. “W-what the hell…?”
His vision blurred as he looked down at the now three pins on his desk. If this was the effort it took to make one, he probably couldn’t manage another without passing out in his chair.
“Neku! Dinner’s ready!” His dad’s voice floated through his door. Neku gave a soft groan and stood up. He leaned against his desk, waiting for the world to stop spinning around him. A few moments later, the voice called again. “Neku?”
“Coming!” he replied, rubbing his temples. His head wouldn’t stop pounding, but at least he didn’t feel like passing out anymore. A few seconds later, he pushed off the desk and headed for his door. He didn’t fall down at all. Well, at least that was encouraging.
[File27]
Shiki grabbed his arm and dragged him into yet another store. Neku rolled his eyes as he let her pull him along, but he couldn’t keep the smile completely off his face. It had been a long time since the two of them had just hung out. They were halfway through their first year of high school now, and with fall midterms safely behind them, they finally had some time for a much-needed break.
“Ohmigawd, Neku isn’t this like the cutest little bag ever?!”
Neku took one look at the bright green purse that Shiki was holding up and made a face. “If you say so…”
Shiki puffed out her cheeks and pouted at him. “Oh, come on. I would have thought that you’d at least pick up a bit of a sense for these things, Neku!”
Neku chuckled and scratched the back of his head, his fingertips briefly brushing the headphones that sat around his neck. “Well, I didn’t need to pay much attention when the trends followed me…” he muttered softly. Shiki gave him an almost pitying look, and he quickly smiled at her. Somehow, she wasn’t reassured.
“Neku…”
“I’m over it. Don’t worry. Hey, what about this one?” He picked it up and held it for her to take. She made another face at him.
“That clashes horribly with our uniform! Honestly-”
Neku laughed. “I know. It was a joke. Really, Shiki, give me some credit.”
She stared at him and surprise, and suddenly giggled. “You’re right. You’re not that hopeless.” After a moment she smiled at him and looked to the floor. “You know, I’m glad we get to do things like this. A part of me was really worried that we… that we’d never come back, you know?” She smiled sadly and looked around the store.
Neku put a hand on her shoulder. “But we’re here now. That’s what matters. All of us made it back.”
“Even Rhyme.”
Both of them seemed to wince at the memory. After a few awkward moments, Shiki turned back to the display racks with renewed vigor. “Alright! It’s getting cold out, Neku, so let’s get you some new clothes for the winter!”
“I don’t need new clothes,” Neku protested, even as he let himself be dragged once more. Shiki simply giggled and pushed him along. After a moment they reached a rack of clothes, and Shiki let him go to start ruffling through. Neku groaned. “Shiki, I don’t like Sheep Heavenly.”
“Aw, but they have some of the cutest shirts!” She pulled one up and held it up for him. “How’s this?”
Neku raised an eyebrow. “Plaid.”
“I know that!” Shiki said with a pout. “What do you think about it?”
“Shiki, I’m not wearing plaid.”
“But it’ll be cute on you!” She held up the shirt in front of her, imagining what it would be like if he put it on. Neku rolled his eyes again.
“Um, excuse me…”
Shiki looked over Neku’s shoulder at someone. “Oh, sorry, are we in the way? Neku, move so she can get by.”
Neku shrugged and tried to move to the side, but the rows really weren’t meant for multiple people passing each other. He glanced at the girl as she pushed by, and suddenly froze.
“You!” It was the other girl from the Game who he’d talked to back then. The one whose partner he’d…
Her head snapped up in surprise. “Oh! It’s you!”
“I, uh…” he was suddenly aware how very awkward this conversation was about to become.
“You’re… Neku, right? Thank you.” Shiki looked to him in surprise, then back at her. A smile spread across the girl’s face. “We won. Yumi stopped goofing off and…” she looked down at the ground. “Thank you so much…” Her eyes started tearing up. “If you hadn’t helped us… I don’t know if we…”
Shiki turned to Neku in confusion. “Neku, who’s this?”
“She… she was a Player a little while ago. I don’t actually know your name,” Neku said, turning to her.
“Oh. I’m Haruka.” She bowed. “Fourteen years old, currently a third-year in junior high school. I like reading and eating mochi, and I dislike karaoke. I have a younger brother and an older sister. My best subject is science, and my favorite color is purple.” Her smile became a bit pained. “I was crushed to death in a building collapse a bit over a month ago.”
“Well, that was a bit more than I asked for,” Neku muttered under his breath. He felt a hand grab his arm, and he turned to Shiki.
She pulled him close, and leaned in and whispered. “Neku? Why are you still getting involved in the Game?”
He cringed. “It’s complicated.”
“Neku, you’re not telling me things again.” She wore the same pained expression that made Neku just drop the farce and tell her everything. But he couldn’t. Not with the threat of Joshua hovering over his shoulder, who was only as benevolent as he decided to be.
“I’m sorry.”
“Neku…”
“Shiki…!” He groaned. “Can we… please talk about this… later, or something?”
“Am I missing something?”
Neku tried his best not to turn to Haruka and snap at her. “Nothing. It’s nothing at all.” It was very tempting to just slide into the UG and walk away from both of them. This was all Joshua’s fault. All of it. Everything.
[File28]
“Here.” He dropped the pencil bag in front of Joshua. Joshua looked at it with mild disinterest, then back to Neku. He slowly reached forward and pulled the pouch into his lap. Joshua opened it and took out one of the objects within, turning it over in his hand. Neku watched him, trying not to appear as nervous as he felt. “I think there’s twenty-seven or so in there. Definitely more than twenty.”
Joshua shut his eyes and closed his hand around the Player Pin. His expression was still indifferent, and Neku quickly pushed down the rising panic. After a moment, Joshua turned to him. “Good work.”
Neku tried to keep his sigh of relief as quiet as possible, but Joshua seemed to notice it anyway. He smirked. With a flick of his hand, the pencil bag vanished. “I was worried I’d have to postpone the next Game. You always come through for me, Neku. Hee hee.” That tone of voice was way too smug.
“I made the deadline, right?”
“You did.” Joshua smirked to himself and stretched, leaning back in his chair. “I see you haven’t needed my help getting out of the UG recently.”
“Of course not. I can do it myself now.” He gave a small smirk. Any independence he could get from Joshua was very much a good thing.
“That’s good. Hopefully this means you won’t be causing any more problems with my Game.” The look he shot Neku sent chills down the teen’s spine. A second later it was gone. “Next week, by the way.”
Neku gave an indifferent shrug, but his stomach suddenly felt significantly less stable than it had just been. Despite the distance Joshua had guaranteed him, he couldn’t help thinking to himself. He was part of the system now, the same system that had tortured him and Shiki and Beat and Rhyme and all those nameless Players who had been erased. Was what he was doing really any different? What happened to the people who didn’t play the Reaper’s Game after they died? Was he really just helping torture all of them with a false hope of reincarnation before the Noise and the Reapers snatched it away?
“Hello, earth to Neku, come in Neku.”
He snapped out of his thoughts and glared at Joshua. “What?”
Joshua chuckled. “Meet on the athletic field at six tonight. Don’t be late.”
“Josh, I can already-”
“Different training.” Joshua smirked. “Different training.”
Neku raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
[File29]
It was dark out. It was dark, and it was cold, but Joshua stood until the bright floodlights of the track field in little more than his short-sleeved shirt from the Game, and Neku couldn’t help but wonder whether Joshua had his own personal warm pocket or if he just didn’t feel the temperature. Neku could swear he could see his own breath, but it was a bit hard to tell. He shivered and Joshua smirked. “Cold, Neku?”
“Shut up.”
Joshua chuckled and moved to the cart next to him, piled high with volleyballs from PE.
“Wait.”
Joshua turned to him.
“Let me tell Shiki.”
The Composer stared at him, annoyed. “Why would you want to do a silly thing like that?”
“She trusts me, Josh,” like I trust you he wanted to add but he knew that if he admitted it then Joshua would use it against him. “I don’t want to keep lying and hiding things from her. It’s only hurting her, and I don’t want to do that. Not to her.”
Joshua sighed. “If it’s becoming a problem, I can erase her memory, you know.”
“No!” Neku startled. “You are not messing with her head!”
“Then you can do it.” Joshua’s gaze was blank. “You likely have that ability by now as well.”
Neku gawked for a moment. “I’m… nobody is messing with her head! Joshua, there are things that you don’t do to people. You don’t just go messing with people’s memories! It’s…”
“It’s what, Neku? Wrong? Immoral? You’re probably best ridding yourself of those silly misconceptions now while they’re still reasonably fresh in your head. We are the people who don’t care what humanity deems good or bad. We have a job to perform. We do it, by any means necessary. There’s no need for ethics.”
A heavy silence hung between the two of them. Neku turned over Joshua’s words in his head, trying to fathom the mentality that had produced them. Did Joshua really have no concept of personal boundaries, no morals at all? Neku didn’t want to believe it, even though deep down, he didn’t doubt it in the least.
After a moment Neku sneezed. The quiet now adequately broken, he took a deep breath. “So, can I…?”
“No, Neku. You may not tell her.”
“Joshua!”
“I meant what I said,” Joshua snapped, truly glaring at Neku now. Neku clenched his teeth, knowing that he’d lost. He stared at the ground, not wanting to meet Joshua’s gaze. “There’s a very simple solution to this prob-”
“I WON’T ERASE HER MEMORIES!” Neku screamed, loudly enough that if anyone was still reasonably near the school, they probably heard him. His voice echoed around in the night for a few moments before fading away into the background of Shibuya. He was breathing hard, puffs of warm air visibly coming from his mouth now. He ventured a look back up at Joshua, and tensed when he noticed the Composer’s smirk. “… What?!”
“Nothing~”
Neku glared at him. “Somehow I doubt it’s-”
He cut off as a volleyball hit him square in the face, knocking him clean over. Neku lay on the ground for a few seconds while his brain processed the stinging pain that his entire face was now in. It wasn’t until the sound of Joshua’s laughter finally floated over to him that he sat up. “What the hell, Joshua?!”
“You came here to train, not bother me with irrelevant questions.” Joshua was standing where he’d been before, one hand on his waist, smirking. Three volleyballs floated in the air around him. Neku stared at them in surprise. “RG fighting. It’s a skill that you can’t underestimate the usefulness of.”
“That’s not exactly subtle,” Neku pointed out as he pulled himself to his feet, keeping a wary eye on the objects.
Joshua giggled and flipped his hair. “Neku, since when have I ever been subtle?”
Neku rolled his eyes. “I thought you’d-” Suddenly he moved to his left, dodging another ball. He threw a look of surprise at Joshua. The other chuckled.
“Pick one up, Neku. First things first.”
Neku cast a skeptical glance at one of the volleyballs now lying near his feet. “You mean without touching it.”
“But of course.”
Neku stared blankly at the volleyball. After a moment, he reached a hand out towards it. Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t done something like this before. That had just been in the UG… with the help of his psychs…
A couple of seconds later, the ball wiggled and slowly started floating upwards. Neku winced, and it quickly fell to the ground again. Okay, so it had been a lot easier with the psychs.
“Harder without using the pins as a crutch, isn’t it?” Neku glared at him, and Joshua smirked back.
“Stop reading my thoughts, Joshua.”
“Is it so hard to accept that you’re just easy to predict?” Neku caught the movement of the ball out of the corner of his eye. Without even thinking he brought up his arms to block his face. There was a loud FOOM, and when he opened his eyes, the volleyball was embedded into the ground next to him, smoldering slightly, a burn mark along one side. Joshua sighed. “At least you didn’t tear a hole in the UG this time.”
“Would’ve been your fault if I did…” Neku mumbled, turning back to the volleyball he’d been trying to lift. Suddenly another collided with his face. “JOSH!”
“Wasn’t me.” The Composer smiled innocently. Neku wanted nothing more than to hurl something back at him. Preferably something heavy. Like a vending machine.
[File30]
“Hey, Neku, do you see that?”
Neku turned to Shiki to find her staring out the window. “See what?”
She pointed. “That light up next to the rooftop fence. Kiyoko said she doesn’t see anything, but there’s definitely something there.”
Neku glanced at her then looked to where she was pointing. His heart skipped at beat as he spotted Joshua, hands gripping the fence, leaning forward enough that if he let go, he’d plummet to the ground four floors below. Giant wings of white light spilled from his back.
“So, do you see it?” He was startled back by Shiki nudging him.
“… Yeah, there’s something there alright…”
She smiled. “I knew it. Maybe it has something to do with…” her voice lowered, “you know…” She looked around the classroom. “Too bad Joshua isn’t here, or we could ask him, too.” Neku turned and headed for the door, and Shiki started after him. “Where are you going?”
“See if I can find Joshua.” Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie.
On the stairwell to the roof, he paused. He didn’t feel anyone looking at him, but he couldn’t help look around just to be sure. Satisfied that no one was around, he slipped into the UG and walked out onto the roof.
“You’re here.” Joshua said it with a smirk, as Neku walked around the corner and up to the fence right behind him. Neku just stared at the brilliant wings before him. Joshua chuckled. “Do you want to see yours?”
Neku startled. “My what?”
“You have wings, too. Hee hee.”
Neku rolled his eyes and glared, shivering a bit in the cold. “If I say no, do I have to go through the annoyance of learning to use them anyway?”
Joshua chucked. “Don’t worry. There’s a trick to these. Mr. H. taught me it.” He glanced at Neku over his shoulder. “First get on this side of the fence.”
Neku looked warily down at the foot-wide ledge that Joshua so easily stood on that was the only thing between him and a nasty, nasty fall if he complied. Neku looked back to Joshua and bit his lower lip. He gaze fell to his feet and he mumbled something. He didn’t catch Joshua smirk in response.
“I’m sorry, what was that, Neku?”
He could feel his face flush a bit. “If you say you’ll stop me if I start to fall… I’ll trust you.”
Joshua smiled, but there was definitely a smirk hidden beneath it. “Of course, Neku~”
Neku gripped the fence. After a moment he reached up and started climbing over. Joshua watched him as he pulled himself over the top of the fence and slowly lowered himself down. He placed his feet on the ledge and let out an unsteady breath. “Now what?”
“Face outwards.”
Neku cast him a look. It wasn’t angry, or annoyed, or anything like that. It was almost like he was just reassuring himself that Joshua was still there, just in case he slipped. Because he trusted him.
Slowly he turned around, putting his back to the fence. He still maintained his death grip on the metal, his heart pounding in his chest. Now he could see the nothing that was between him and the ground far below.
“Now lean forward. Like this.” Joshua adjusted his grip and tilted his body forwards, into the same position that Neku had first seen him in. His head hung over the side of the building, and suddenly the updrafts rushed through his hair. His wings opened and arched gracefully behind him. After a moment he opened his eyes and turned to Neku, a small grin on his face. “What are you waiting for?”
Neku quickly snapped his gaze away. He took one more look down and squeezed his eyes shut. He changed his grip to the way that Joshua had done, and slowly leaned forwards, arms trembling.
The first gust of wind hit him clear in the face, and his eyes snapped open. He wasn’t seeing the ground. He was just seeing… something. The wind rushed past him, sending an exhilarating feeling through his whole being. He felt… truly, completely free. Something spread outwards from his back, and the feeling only increased. A smile, like the stupid smile of a kid on their first carousel, appeared on his face.
He didn’t even realize one hand had let go of the fence until he felt Joshua’s grip on his wrist. He turned in surprise, and that’s when he saw one. A mass of white light next to his shoulder, curving and connecting to his back. He turned to the other side, and sure enough, there was a second one.
“Pretty, aren’t they?” Joshua grinned and slowly pulled Neku’s hand back to the fence. He leaned back and gripped it weakly, hands trembling, legs ready to give out underneath him. He had wings.
[CloseFiles]
Comments/critique are much appreciated.