Don't Disappear (100moods - Prompt #100: Worried)
Title: Don't Disappear
Fandom: The World Ends With You
Characters: Neku Sakuraba x Shiki Misaki
Prompt: #100 (Worried) // August 28, 2009 ("it's the breathing, it's the breathing in and out and in and...")
Word Count: 1010
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Character spoilers, minor swearing, blood.
Summary: She smiles--because she knows, she knows, she knows that she deserves this and that there's no reason to be afraid.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.
A/N: Written for ammchan - request here.
Don't Disappear
Neku had thought that the real Shiki was the one who had made him his partner without even asking his permission, the one who criticized his clothing every chance that she got. He hadn't expected for her to be a fraud, an image of someone else who would give the world for her when she didn't know it, a puppet controlled by strings of low self-esteem and the desire to make her forever feel beautiful and loved. He hadn't expected for him to forgive her and keep her as a partner, a friend.
Neku also hadn't expected him to make all of the friends that he did, for all of them to live and make it out of the Game safely, for her to reveal her true self to him. Shiki knows that he's accepted all of that, so why not this as he takes her by the hand to lead her to their destination?
Don't be afraid. You deserve this, and there's no reason to be afraid, he says and doesn't say anyway as he squeezes her delicate hand in reassurance.
She smiles--because she knows, she knows, she knows.
And they go and know that there's no turning back.
*
He watches her as she ignores the buildings of the city towering over them in an attempt to make them feel so small, an insignificant part of the world. He watches her dark hair moving in time with the wind, the way she has to brush it out of her eyes so she can see. He watches as her glasses fall ever so slowly as she walks, how she frowns as she has to push them up, how her smile returns soon after. He notices that she never looks to the ground once, never blushes as the people around them stare.
"They're just jealous," she says, and laughs. It's music without the headphones, he thinks.
"Yeah," he replies simply, his voice low with only the slightest hint of feeling.
He doesn't talk much, either. He just responds to whatever it is that she says, and doesn't attempt to start new conversation.
She doesn't mind. It's part of his personality, and why should she try to change that when it's perfect the way it is?
She just stares straight ahead, head held high, her hand in his.
And they both think that that's all that really matters.
*
It occurs to him at the concert that they attend that she could be taken away from him again somehow. She wouldn't disappear off the face of the earth, of course--but it could be just as bad, he knows.
He looks around, meets the eyes of excited (but untrustworthy in his mind) people, receives a smile or two, scowls and looks away without regret. He's well aware that there's a ton of people around, and all of them can swipe her away if Neku gives them the chance. She could walk off on her own and be unable to find her way back to him. He'd have to call the police right away and tell them what happened and answer too many questions about her appearance and who he thinks could have done it and he'd have to try to do it all without panicking and interrupting himself to ask where the hell she is and why can't they find her sooner than they say that they will and--
"Neku?" she asks, causing him to jump slightly.
He frantically looks around for her, only to find her where she's been the entire time. He sighs and relief, and calmly says, "What?"
"What's your favorite song they've played so far?"
He doesn't have an answer to that.
(He hasn't been paying much attention to the concert at all.)
*
Insecurity always has its way of trying to creep back into lives when its least expected. There isn't an exception for Shiki.
She trips over a rock or over her own foot or something--it doesn't really matter to her, really--and she falls to the ground, their new belongings from the concert leaving the security of one of her hands to fly away to a place several feet in front of her.
Neku just pushes away the other people who offer to help and he bends down to see if she's all right--which she probably is, he knows, because she's been so close to death too many times for this to be a problem to her
"Are you okay?" he says quietly, placing one hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah. Just had a little clumsy moment. That's all," she says, and she means it. She looks up to him and grins and starts to stand up again.
"Are you... sure...?" His voice trails off, and he presses down on her shoulder to let her know that he doesn't want her to move just yet.
As expected, it's not a problem to her--but surprisingly, it's a problem to him.
Her knee is bleeding because of the impact with the ground ever so slightly--but still, the fact that she's bleeding terrifies him.
He swiftly runs to get the t-shirt he had brought from the concert, and returns to her only to have a puzzled glare sent his way.
"And what are you going to do with that?" she asks.
He doesn't answer with words, but with actions as he wraps it around her knee, her wound, and ties it so it stays in place. It's not much, he thinks, but it's enough, and anything else that needs to be done will have to wait.
"Um... Neku, not that I don't appreciate the offer or anything, but it wasn't really that bad," she says. They both stand up, Shiki never taking her confused eyes off of Neku, Neku never taking his eyes off of the wrapped knee.
"Yeah, well," he says when the bystanders leave, "blood is part of what keeps us alive and breathing and together. I couldn't just leave it alone and have part of you slip away from me, now could I?"
Fandom: The World Ends With You
Characters: Neku Sakuraba x Shiki Misaki
Prompt: #100 (Worried) // August 28, 2009 ("it's the breathing, it's the breathing in and out and in and...")
Word Count: 1010
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Character spoilers, minor swearing, blood.
Summary: She smiles--because she knows, she knows, she knows that she deserves this and that there's no reason to be afraid.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.
A/N: Written for ammchan - request here.
Don't Disappear
Neku had thought that the real Shiki was the one who had made him his partner without even asking his permission, the one who criticized his clothing every chance that she got. He hadn't expected for her to be a fraud, an image of someone else who would give the world for her when she didn't know it, a puppet controlled by strings of low self-esteem and the desire to make her forever feel beautiful and loved. He hadn't expected for him to forgive her and keep her as a partner, a friend.
Neku also hadn't expected him to make all of the friends that he did, for all of them to live and make it out of the Game safely, for her to reveal her true self to him. Shiki knows that he's accepted all of that, so why not this as he takes her by the hand to lead her to their destination?
Don't be afraid. You deserve this, and there's no reason to be afraid, he says and doesn't say anyway as he squeezes her delicate hand in reassurance.
She smiles--because she knows, she knows, she knows.
And they go and know that there's no turning back.
*
He watches her as she ignores the buildings of the city towering over them in an attempt to make them feel so small, an insignificant part of the world. He watches her dark hair moving in time with the wind, the way she has to brush it out of her eyes so she can see. He watches as her glasses fall ever so slowly as she walks, how she frowns as she has to push them up, how her smile returns soon after. He notices that she never looks to the ground once, never blushes as the people around them stare.
"They're just jealous," she says, and laughs. It's music without the headphones, he thinks.
"Yeah," he replies simply, his voice low with only the slightest hint of feeling.
He doesn't talk much, either. He just responds to whatever it is that she says, and doesn't attempt to start new conversation.
She doesn't mind. It's part of his personality, and why should she try to change that when it's perfect the way it is?
She just stares straight ahead, head held high, her hand in his.
And they both think that that's all that really matters.
*
It occurs to him at the concert that they attend that she could be taken away from him again somehow. She wouldn't disappear off the face of the earth, of course--but it could be just as bad, he knows.
He looks around, meets the eyes of excited (but untrustworthy in his mind) people, receives a smile or two, scowls and looks away without regret. He's well aware that there's a ton of people around, and all of them can swipe her away if Neku gives them the chance. She could walk off on her own and be unable to find her way back to him. He'd have to call the police right away and tell them what happened and answer too many questions about her appearance and who he thinks could have done it and he'd have to try to do it all without panicking and interrupting himself to ask where the hell she is and why can't they find her sooner than they say that they will and--
"Neku?" she asks, causing him to jump slightly.
He frantically looks around for her, only to find her where she's been the entire time. He sighs and relief, and calmly says, "What?"
"What's your favorite song they've played so far?"
He doesn't have an answer to that.
(He hasn't been paying much attention to the concert at all.)
*
Insecurity always has its way of trying to creep back into lives when its least expected. There isn't an exception for Shiki.
She trips over a rock or over her own foot or something--it doesn't really matter to her, really--and she falls to the ground, their new belongings from the concert leaving the security of one of her hands to fly away to a place several feet in front of her.
Neku just pushes away the other people who offer to help and he bends down to see if she's all right--which she probably is, he knows, because she's been so close to death too many times for this to be a problem to her
"Are you okay?" he says quietly, placing one hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah. Just had a little clumsy moment. That's all," she says, and she means it. She looks up to him and grins and starts to stand up again.
"Are you... sure...?" His voice trails off, and he presses down on her shoulder to let her know that he doesn't want her to move just yet.
As expected, it's not a problem to her--but surprisingly, it's a problem to him.
Her knee is bleeding because of the impact with the ground ever so slightly--but still, the fact that she's bleeding terrifies him.
He swiftly runs to get the t-shirt he had brought from the concert, and returns to her only to have a puzzled glare sent his way.
"And what are you going to do with that?" she asks.
He doesn't answer with words, but with actions as he wraps it around her knee, her wound, and ties it so it stays in place. It's not much, he thinks, but it's enough, and anything else that needs to be done will have to wait.
"Um... Neku, not that I don't appreciate the offer or anything, but it wasn't really that bad," she says. They both stand up, Shiki never taking her confused eyes off of Neku, Neku never taking his eyes off of the wrapped knee.
"Yeah, well," he says when the bystanders leave, "blood is part of what keeps us alive and breathing and together. I couldn't just leave it alone and have part of you slip away from me, now could I?"