[TWEWY] fic: Forgotten
Title: Forgotten
Fandom: The World Ends With You
Disclaimer: TWEWY belongs to Square Enix.
Word Count: 918
Notes: written for mirrankei for the TWEWY Secret Santa exchange. The request was broad and called for Neku/Joshua, not AU. Well, the only plunny I have for Neku/Joshua is when Neku's much older, so that's what I went with~. I ran out of time and didn't get around to finishing this, so it's not quite finished. Think of this as a teaser...I suppose. I don't know how many times I've rewritten this already. =/
Archive: originally posted here
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The next time Neku dies, he is thirty-two years old. His death is an accident--he falls off his ladder while painting a mural. It's a silly way to die after he's been through so much, but that's how life goes. When Neku wakes up again, he finds himself holding a Player pin and thinks not again.
He's played this Game more than once. He knows how it goes. He knows of the entrance fee and the goal waiting for him at the end of these seven days. He knows something is up when he can't remember what his entrance fee is--they've taken his memory again but he doesn't remember what the memory is of, just that it's important to him. He stands in the middle of the street, invisible and intangible, trying hard to remember but knowing how impossible it is.
Once he would have been relieved to be invisible despite being confused. Now he's just lonely. He has almost forgotten how it feels to walk along the same streets without anyone noticing his presence. He's no longer the misanthropic, ignorant teenager he once was, but he is still far from social. Despite his antisocial tendencies, he now knows what having friends feels like; their absence leaves a gaping hole in his heart. He doesn't have to wonder if he'll be missed. He knows he'll be missed, and it hurts to know that.
Thankfully, they are not here with him. If he plays the Game right, he'll be able to return to their side. He'll need a partner--he learned from last time that he can't do it alone.
When his cellphone goes off with the mission for the day, he prepares himself for the feeling of the timer but can't help his wince when the numbers appear like expected. He makes his way towards Ten Four, the destination of the mission, hoping he'll meet his partner along the way. After so many years, the Statue of Hachiko is no longer around, or else he'd have made a detour there. Hachiko was where he first met Shiki, a meeting that utterly changed his life. It was also the place where he was saved by his second Partner, a brash boy who grew up to be one of the world's best known skaters. Even in the RG, Hachiko holds a special place in his heart, but sadly the entire plaza was destroyed in the last earthquake, and the plans for rebuilding never quite pull through. The only thing he's glad about the whole experience is that none of them were hurt in the earthquake. He had to pull Rhyme out from underneath the rubble, her frantic brother blabbering at a mile a minute about how he can't lose her again, but thankfully she was all right.
Shibuya has changed so much since he was a teenager, it is almost unrecognizable. It's much more high tech now and no longer the center of fashion, but trends still start and end in Shibuya. Neku feels the pulse of the most fashionable trend in the area, a feeling unique to the UG. He must not be wearing the right brand, for he immediately feels weak when he reaches Ten Four.
To add to his worries, a frog Noise jumps at him. Neku runs--it's one of the weakest Noise around, but Neku can't do anything about it without a Partner. He falls in the midst of his attempt to escape. He wonders if this is how he'll disappear from this world, surviving through two weeks of intense battle in his youth and the largest earthquake in years only to die from the weakest Noise around. He doesn't want to die, not like this. He doesn't want to fade from this world as if he never existed. His murals, his paintings are not enough. He hasn't shown everyone what he's capable of yet. He hasn't said goodbye to his friends.
"Stand up and fight, Neku," comes a soft-spoken but commanding voice. Neku looks up and knows this is his Partner this time around. Lights flash around them--the pact is done. The other person is but a young teenager, looking to be around the age Neku was when he had been in the game previously. All the other players he met previously were teenagers too. Neku wonders why, and if it's still the same now. Does that make him an anomaly?
They vanquish the Noise easily, too easily, almost as if they have done this together before. There's a sense of familiarity with the boy, but Neku knows he has never seen the boy before. His mind flips, however, when he realizes the boy knows his name.
After the Noise dissipates, Neku extends his hand. "Thanks for saving me there. I'm Sakuraba Neku." Neku knows the introduction is unnecessary. It's only there to keep up appearances. Somehow this boy knows him, and Neku has the gut feeling that he knows this boy in return, that his forgotten memories have something to do with this boy.
The boy glances at Neku's extended hand. "I'm hurt, Neku. Have you forgotten me?"
"Am I supposed to know you?" asks Neku bluntly, dropping his hand. His heart beats at the lilt in the boy's voice. It is so very familiar, but Neku can't quite place it. He certainly doesn't know anyone this young.
The boy hums and twirls a strand of his ashy hair between his fingers. "I suppose not."
"Well, see you around then, Neku."
"What-" before Neku is able to ask any more questions, his vision fades to black.
Day one is over.
-----
to be continued (possibly?)
Fandom: The World Ends With You
Disclaimer: TWEWY belongs to Square Enix.
Word Count: 918
Notes: written for mirrankei for the TWEWY Secret Santa exchange. The request was broad and called for Neku/Joshua, not AU. Well, the only plunny I have for Neku/Joshua is when Neku's much older, so that's what I went with~. I ran out of time and didn't get around to finishing this, so it's not quite finished. Think of this as a teaser...I suppose. I don't know how many times I've rewritten this already. =/
Archive: originally posted here
-----
The next time Neku dies, he is thirty-two years old. His death is an accident--he falls off his ladder while painting a mural. It's a silly way to die after he's been through so much, but that's how life goes. When Neku wakes up again, he finds himself holding a Player pin and thinks not again.
He's played this Game more than once. He knows how it goes. He knows of the entrance fee and the goal waiting for him at the end of these seven days. He knows something is up when he can't remember what his entrance fee is--they've taken his memory again but he doesn't remember what the memory is of, just that it's important to him. He stands in the middle of the street, invisible and intangible, trying hard to remember but knowing how impossible it is.
Once he would have been relieved to be invisible despite being confused. Now he's just lonely. He has almost forgotten how it feels to walk along the same streets without anyone noticing his presence. He's no longer the misanthropic, ignorant teenager he once was, but he is still far from social. Despite his antisocial tendencies, he now knows what having friends feels like; their absence leaves a gaping hole in his heart. He doesn't have to wonder if he'll be missed. He knows he'll be missed, and it hurts to know that.
Thankfully, they are not here with him. If he plays the Game right, he'll be able to return to their side. He'll need a partner--he learned from last time that he can't do it alone.
When his cellphone goes off with the mission for the day, he prepares himself for the feeling of the timer but can't help his wince when the numbers appear like expected. He makes his way towards Ten Four, the destination of the mission, hoping he'll meet his partner along the way. After so many years, the Statue of Hachiko is no longer around, or else he'd have made a detour there. Hachiko was where he first met Shiki, a meeting that utterly changed his life. It was also the place where he was saved by his second Partner, a brash boy who grew up to be one of the world's best known skaters. Even in the RG, Hachiko holds a special place in his heart, but sadly the entire plaza was destroyed in the last earthquake, and the plans for rebuilding never quite pull through. The only thing he's glad about the whole experience is that none of them were hurt in the earthquake. He had to pull Rhyme out from underneath the rubble, her frantic brother blabbering at a mile a minute about how he can't lose her again, but thankfully she was all right.
Shibuya has changed so much since he was a teenager, it is almost unrecognizable. It's much more high tech now and no longer the center of fashion, but trends still start and end in Shibuya. Neku feels the pulse of the most fashionable trend in the area, a feeling unique to the UG. He must not be wearing the right brand, for he immediately feels weak when he reaches Ten Four.
To add to his worries, a frog Noise jumps at him. Neku runs--it's one of the weakest Noise around, but Neku can't do anything about it without a Partner. He falls in the midst of his attempt to escape. He wonders if this is how he'll disappear from this world, surviving through two weeks of intense battle in his youth and the largest earthquake in years only to die from the weakest Noise around. He doesn't want to die, not like this. He doesn't want to fade from this world as if he never existed. His murals, his paintings are not enough. He hasn't shown everyone what he's capable of yet. He hasn't said goodbye to his friends.
"Stand up and fight, Neku," comes a soft-spoken but commanding voice. Neku looks up and knows this is his Partner this time around. Lights flash around them--the pact is done. The other person is but a young teenager, looking to be around the age Neku was when he had been in the game previously. All the other players he met previously were teenagers too. Neku wonders why, and if it's still the same now. Does that make him an anomaly?
They vanquish the Noise easily, too easily, almost as if they have done this together before. There's a sense of familiarity with the boy, but Neku knows he has never seen the boy before. His mind flips, however, when he realizes the boy knows his name.
After the Noise dissipates, Neku extends his hand. "Thanks for saving me there. I'm Sakuraba Neku." Neku knows the introduction is unnecessary. It's only there to keep up appearances. Somehow this boy knows him, and Neku has the gut feeling that he knows this boy in return, that his forgotten memories have something to do with this boy.
The boy glances at Neku's extended hand. "I'm hurt, Neku. Have you forgotten me?"
"Am I supposed to know you?" asks Neku bluntly, dropping his hand. His heart beats at the lilt in the boy's voice. It is so very familiar, but Neku can't quite place it. He certainly doesn't know anyone this young.
The boy hums and twirls a strand of his ashy hair between his fingers. "I suppose not."
"Well, see you around then, Neku."
"What-" before Neku is able to ask any more questions, his vision fades to black.
Day one is over.
-----
to be continued (possibly?)