It's Your Fault It's Complicated (Files 22-25)
Title: It’s Your Fault It’s Complicated
Author: anigirl15
Rating: PG-13 for the f-word and boys kissing, will eventually get up to NC-17.
Warnings: Joshua/Neku. 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. Boysex (but not for a while. A long while, in fact).
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 Because Life Can Never Be Simple, which is posted at subarashiki_ds. 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.
It’s Your Fault It’s Complicated (Files 22 - 25)
[first] [back one] [forwards]
[jump to the other side]
[File 22]
Neku pressed the call button on his cell phone again, and once more brought it to his ear. For what had to be the fifth or sixth time, no dial tone met his ear. No sound. Nothing.
He groaned and looked at his cell phone. No reception, not that he’d expected any. But the call had gone through last time. This time, though…
He slumped against the fence, sitting on the roof of the school, staring up at the sky, listening to the unusually violent building and crashing of Shibuya’s Music. Of course, the moment Joshua decides to stop coming to school, Neku slips into the UG in the middle of class. Of course. When it rains, it pours.
He had no idea what the teacher even thought of him now. No one had seemed to notice at the moment it happened, luckily enough. But now he had no way of getting back, and when the teacher had looked up again, he had essentially vanished from his seat. Just like that.
And stupid Joshua would not answer his fucking cell phone.
“WHAT THE HELL, JOSH?!” he screamed as loudly as he could, wondering if it would somehow reach the Composer’s ears. He hadn’t so much as seen him since he vanished from Hachiko. That was several days ago; several days which had almost all had school, and Joshua just didn’t show up.
It wasn’t like he was busy running a Game. Was he just avoiding Neku? What for?
He molested me and I punched him for it. Neku grit his teeth. If he’s pissed about that, then he’s even more screwed up than I thought.
“AT LEAST PUT ME BACK IN THE RG!” By now he was screaming more to relieve his frustration than anything else. He pounded his fist into the fence. “Stupid…”
“You don’t have to yell, you know.”
Neku jumped and his head snapped up. Joshua sat above him on top of the fence, staring down blankly. A few moments passed while Neku stared dumbly upwards. “… You don’t hurt anymore.”
“Excuse me?” Joshua quirked an eyebrow.
“The pressure that I used to feel around you. It’s gone now.”
Joshua seemed unimpressed. After a moment, he sighed. “Anyway, you seem to have a bit of a problem.”
“Gee, really? I couldn’t tell.” Neku stood up and backed a few steps away from the fence, glaring up at Joshua.
Joshua chuckled, but something about the grin on his face seemed forced. “Is that any way to look at the only person who can help you?”
“It’s your fault this is happening in the first place.”
Joshua hummed softly and jumped down to the roof. “I suppose it is, isn’t it.” He reached up and played with a strand of hair. “And I suppose you want me to fix it.”
Neku glared harder and crossed his arms, saying nothing. Joshua chuckled again. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Joshua reached for Neku’s shoulder, but Neku quickly reached out and snatched his hand away. Joshua shrugged, and Neku felt the feeling of reentering the RG spread out from his hand across the rest of his body.
Joshua pulled his hand away. Neku turned away from him and let out a soft sigh. “Thanks.”
Joshua turned around as well. “I don’t like repeating myself. And I don’t mess up. So consider yourself lucky to hear this even once.” He paused. “Sorry.”
Neku turned around in surprise, but Joshua was already gone.
[File23]
Neku sighed and turned the Player Pin over in his hands once more. It was dark outside, really dark, probably well past midnight by now. His desk was lit by a single lamp, and the light reflected off the pin as he played with it.
How the hell do you make something like this?
He could definitely feel it now, something he couldn’t feel before. The energy that the pin radiated. The receiver that was encoded into it. The transforming signal it emitted. How it was trying to bind to him but at the same time it was pulling back, almost afraid. All these he could tell, he could pick them apart, he could separate them and he knew what each piece did but dammit if he could not figure out how to actually make one.
“Neku?” His mom knocked on his door. “Go to sleep, Neku. It’s late.”
He didn’t reply. After a moment he heard her sigh and walk away.
He uncovered the pin in his hands, hidden in the off-chance she walked in. He stared down at the design, studying it. For the first time that night, he wasn’t sensing its energy code. He was just looking at the design. Remembering its creator. Wondering just what the hell had happened that he’d missed.
What had happened to Mr. H.?
After a few moments he flipped his phone open and scrolled through the pictures. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to delete that one. The picture of Hanekoma standing at the back of WildKat, hiding the Lv. 5 keypin for him and Beat to find and go to the Shibuya River to bring an end to the Game. Neku found himself wondering, between Joshua and Hanekoma, how much of that Game had been planned out from the very beginning. The picture was all he had left of Mr. H. The picture, and the Player Pin.
Neku turned back to the pin. What would Joshua do if Neku refused to do this? Could the Composer possibly not be able to make them? If he didn’t have Player Pins, Joshua couldn’t run the Game. Maybe. But Neku doubted that the system hinged on a detail as small as that. So Joshua probably could make them, he was just too lazy of an ass to do so. Neku sighed.
He picked up the pin and held it in his left hand, sensing its energy yet another time. He looked at his empty right hand, imagining a second Player Pin there. What would it feel like to have two? Back when he had two, he couldn’t feel it like he could now, so it wasn’t as if he remembered anything useful. He closed his eyes and sighed again. They probably felt the same way. They’d have to be very similar, at least. Were they coded so that two could bond to a person? Or had he just been special?
He went through the different codes once more, paying careful attention to each of them. Neku had been surprised about how many effects the Player Pins truly had that as a Player he’d been completely unaware of. Though, now that he looked back on it, most of what he discovered made perfect sense when paired with his experiences.
He went to open his eyes again, but suddenly found himself much more tired than he’d thought. All he could really see of his desk was a blurry light, which he managed to turn off with a bit of fumbling just before laying down his head and falling asleep in his chair.
He awoke in the morning nearly an hour late for school. Neku quickly got ready and rushed out of his home in a panic, too distracted to realize that he’d left behind two Player Pins, sitting innocently on his desk.
[File24]
Neku slunk into his seat, trying his best to avoid catching the attention of the teacher who luckily hadn’t quite yet turned around to take attendance. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, catching the level gaze of a pair of purple eyes.
“You’re back.”
“I am.”
There was so much Neku wanted to ask, but at the moment, he wasn’t quite sure about pressing Joshua. He turned back to the front as the teacher began speaking.
“By the way, meet in the usual place this afternoon.”
Neku suppressed a groan.
[File25]
“That was closer.”
Neku made a sound of frustration and pulled away from Joshua, sitting back in his chair. “How many more times am I going to have to try this today, Josh? It’s been over two hours already.”
“I said, until you-”
“‘Until I can control my vibe’, I know. I’m not entering the UG on accident anymore, isn’t that enough?!”
Joshua was staring at Neku in surprise. Neku was about to question when he spoke again. “You cut me off.”
“… And?” Neku deadpanned.
Joshua chuckled to himself. “Oh, no. It’s nothing. Nothing at all~”
Neku threw him the most skeptical glare he could manage. Joshua grinned back.
“Alright, break’s over. Back to work.”
Neku groaned in frustration, but obediently leaned forwards regardless. He placed his palms on Joshua’s, sighed, and concentrated.
“Once more.” Joshua’s energy slowly shifted upwards, sliding into what seemed to be a nice equilibrium, and stopped there. Neku tried to follow it. His own energy seemed to waver, trying to reach the point that Joshua had, before flickering and sliding back to where it was.
He cursed under his breath, his fingers momentarily moving forward and passing through Joshua’s. “Joshua, I can’t-”
“Stop being a baby and try again.” Joshua pulled back so that it seemed as if they were just barely touching, even though the only contact between the two was a connection of energy that straddled two different Planes. Neku grunted and tried once more.
He pushed, pushed his energy, trying just for once to shut the damn bastard up so that he could go home. They’d been at this an hour longer than usual already and Joshua was now-
Something shifted. Neku could feel it inside of him, the same shift that Joshua had made. Joshua’s fingers moved and Neku realized that he was solidly holding Neku’s hands. He opened his eyes in surprise.
“Did I just-?” And then Joshua tilted his head and suddenly it wasn’t their foreheads that were touching but their lips…
Joshua pulled back with a small grin, studying the stunned Neku before him. “I wanted it to be in the UG. You’ve finally come to me, my dear Producer.” He smiled. “Neku…” The name was said in more of a purr than anything else.
Was that an actual smile on his face? Was Joshua capable of actually smiling?
Neku wasn’t sure what was the most surprising. That he was finally in the UG or that Joshua was smiling or his first kiss or the fact that they were still holding hands or the kiss or that Joshua had been almost gentle with him or the kiss or the kiss or…
Neku flushed bright red and yanked his hands away, quickly shoving his chair backwards. “W-What the hell?!” he stammered. His brain had finally almost caught up to what had just happened. Joshua smiled up at him, but he seemed a bit more amused now than he’d been a few seconds ago. “Why the hell did you do that, asshole?!”
“Because~” Joshua lilted, the smile becoming more like his usual smirk every moment. Neku stared down in surprise, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to react. Joshua had just… they… he’d… they’d just kissed.
“What the hell, Josh?!”
“Was that your first kiss, Neku?”
Neku startled. “Y-… what does that have to do with anything?!”
Joshua chuckled and smirked at him. “Aw, you saved yourself for me! Hee hee.”
Neku suddenly felt all the blood rush to his face, and he flushed brighter than he probably ever had before. He’d just wasted his first kiss. On Joshua of all people. The first kiss, which is supposed to be nice and somewhere special and with someone he really liked and here he’d just wasted it in the UG with the person he most wanted to punch in the face. Joshua was officially out to ruin his life.
“I’m going to kill you…” he muttered through clenched teeth, his face still red.
“Congratulations on raising your vibe.”
The change of subject caught Neku off-guard. After a moment he latched onto it, wanting to think of anything but exactly why he hadn’t yet actually felt the urge to smack Joshua. “Yeah, well it’s not like you made it easy or anything.” He crossed his arms and glared.
Joshua chuckled. “Oh, please, Neku. I imprinted you with the information, I let you copy my energy, I did everything I possibly could to speed along the process. If you felt you picked it up slowly, that’s your own incompetence.”
Neku scowled at the word ‘incompetence’, shooting Joshua the nastiest glare he could manage as if he hadn’t already been doing it.
“Can I go home now?”
“I don’t know, can you?” Joshua grinned. “You’re in the UG, after all, don’t you need to-?”
He cut himself off, mildly surprised as Neku slipped back into the RG like it was practically nothing. Neku seemed to notice, and shot Joshua something that was almost a smirk. “Weren’t expecting that, were you?”
“Well it isn’t much of a surprise since you spend all your time in the RG anyway.” Joshua shrugged, but Neku could definitely sense some sort of discontent beneath the indifference, and he inwardly reveled in it. He’d caught Joshua off-guard. It was a rare day when that happened. Almost made up for… he mentally smacked himself before he could follow that train of thought any farther.
“I’m going home, then.” Neku walked to the door. He slid it open, paused, and glanced back. Joshua was staring out the window, a small smile on his face. After a moment, Neku stepped out and shut the door behind him.
[CloseFiles]
Comments/critique are much appreciated.
Author: anigirl15
Rating: PG-13 for the f-word and boys kissing, will eventually get up to NC-17.
Warnings: Joshua/Neku. 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. Boysex (but not for a while. A long while, in fact).
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 Because Life Can Never Be Simple, which is posted at subarashiki_ds. 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.
It’s Your Fault It’s Complicated (Files 22 - 25)
[first] [back one] [forwards]
[jump to the other side]
[File 22]
Neku pressed the call button on his cell phone again, and once more brought it to his ear. For what had to be the fifth or sixth time, no dial tone met his ear. No sound. Nothing.
He groaned and looked at his cell phone. No reception, not that he’d expected any. But the call had gone through last time. This time, though…
He slumped against the fence, sitting on the roof of the school, staring up at the sky, listening to the unusually violent building and crashing of Shibuya’s Music. Of course, the moment Joshua decides to stop coming to school, Neku slips into the UG in the middle of class. Of course. When it rains, it pours.
He had no idea what the teacher even thought of him now. No one had seemed to notice at the moment it happened, luckily enough. But now he had no way of getting back, and when the teacher had looked up again, he had essentially vanished from his seat. Just like that.
And stupid Joshua would not answer his fucking cell phone.
“WHAT THE HELL, JOSH?!” he screamed as loudly as he could, wondering if it would somehow reach the Composer’s ears. He hadn’t so much as seen him since he vanished from Hachiko. That was several days ago; several days which had almost all had school, and Joshua just didn’t show up.
It wasn’t like he was busy running a Game. Was he just avoiding Neku? What for?
He molested me and I punched him for it. Neku grit his teeth. If he’s pissed about that, then he’s even more screwed up than I thought.
“AT LEAST PUT ME BACK IN THE RG!” By now he was screaming more to relieve his frustration than anything else. He pounded his fist into the fence. “Stupid…”
“You don’t have to yell, you know.”
Neku jumped and his head snapped up. Joshua sat above him on top of the fence, staring down blankly. A few moments passed while Neku stared dumbly upwards. “… You don’t hurt anymore.”
“Excuse me?” Joshua quirked an eyebrow.
“The pressure that I used to feel around you. It’s gone now.”
Joshua seemed unimpressed. After a moment, he sighed. “Anyway, you seem to have a bit of a problem.”
“Gee, really? I couldn’t tell.” Neku stood up and backed a few steps away from the fence, glaring up at Joshua.
Joshua chuckled, but something about the grin on his face seemed forced. “Is that any way to look at the only person who can help you?”
“It’s your fault this is happening in the first place.”
Joshua hummed softly and jumped down to the roof. “I suppose it is, isn’t it.” He reached up and played with a strand of hair. “And I suppose you want me to fix it.”
Neku glared harder and crossed his arms, saying nothing. Joshua chuckled again. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Joshua reached for Neku’s shoulder, but Neku quickly reached out and snatched his hand away. Joshua shrugged, and Neku felt the feeling of reentering the RG spread out from his hand across the rest of his body.
Joshua pulled his hand away. Neku turned away from him and let out a soft sigh. “Thanks.”
Joshua turned around as well. “I don’t like repeating myself. And I don’t mess up. So consider yourself lucky to hear this even once.” He paused. “Sorry.”
Neku turned around in surprise, but Joshua was already gone.
[File23]
Neku sighed and turned the Player Pin over in his hands once more. It was dark outside, really dark, probably well past midnight by now. His desk was lit by a single lamp, and the light reflected off the pin as he played with it.
How the hell do you make something like this?
He could definitely feel it now, something he couldn’t feel before. The energy that the pin radiated. The receiver that was encoded into it. The transforming signal it emitted. How it was trying to bind to him but at the same time it was pulling back, almost afraid. All these he could tell, he could pick them apart, he could separate them and he knew what each piece did but dammit if he could not figure out how to actually make one.
“Neku?” His mom knocked on his door. “Go to sleep, Neku. It’s late.”
He didn’t reply. After a moment he heard her sigh and walk away.
He uncovered the pin in his hands, hidden in the off-chance she walked in. He stared down at the design, studying it. For the first time that night, he wasn’t sensing its energy code. He was just looking at the design. Remembering its creator. Wondering just what the hell had happened that he’d missed.
What had happened to Mr. H.?
After a few moments he flipped his phone open and scrolled through the pictures. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to delete that one. The picture of Hanekoma standing at the back of WildKat, hiding the Lv. 5 keypin for him and Beat to find and go to the Shibuya River to bring an end to the Game. Neku found himself wondering, between Joshua and Hanekoma, how much of that Game had been planned out from the very beginning. The picture was all he had left of Mr. H. The picture, and the Player Pin.
Neku turned back to the pin. What would Joshua do if Neku refused to do this? Could the Composer possibly not be able to make them? If he didn’t have Player Pins, Joshua couldn’t run the Game. Maybe. But Neku doubted that the system hinged on a detail as small as that. So Joshua probably could make them, he was just too lazy of an ass to do so. Neku sighed.
He picked up the pin and held it in his left hand, sensing its energy yet another time. He looked at his empty right hand, imagining a second Player Pin there. What would it feel like to have two? Back when he had two, he couldn’t feel it like he could now, so it wasn’t as if he remembered anything useful. He closed his eyes and sighed again. They probably felt the same way. They’d have to be very similar, at least. Were they coded so that two could bond to a person? Or had he just been special?
He went through the different codes once more, paying careful attention to each of them. Neku had been surprised about how many effects the Player Pins truly had that as a Player he’d been completely unaware of. Though, now that he looked back on it, most of what he discovered made perfect sense when paired with his experiences.
He went to open his eyes again, but suddenly found himself much more tired than he’d thought. All he could really see of his desk was a blurry light, which he managed to turn off with a bit of fumbling just before laying down his head and falling asleep in his chair.
He awoke in the morning nearly an hour late for school. Neku quickly got ready and rushed out of his home in a panic, too distracted to realize that he’d left behind two Player Pins, sitting innocently on his desk.
[File24]
Neku slunk into his seat, trying his best to avoid catching the attention of the teacher who luckily hadn’t quite yet turned around to take attendance. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, catching the level gaze of a pair of purple eyes.
“You’re back.”
“I am.”
There was so much Neku wanted to ask, but at the moment, he wasn’t quite sure about pressing Joshua. He turned back to the front as the teacher began speaking.
“By the way, meet in the usual place this afternoon.”
Neku suppressed a groan.
[File25]
“That was closer.”
Neku made a sound of frustration and pulled away from Joshua, sitting back in his chair. “How many more times am I going to have to try this today, Josh? It’s been over two hours already.”
“I said, until you-”
“‘Until I can control my vibe’, I know. I’m not entering the UG on accident anymore, isn’t that enough?!”
Joshua was staring at Neku in surprise. Neku was about to question when he spoke again. “You cut me off.”
“… And?” Neku deadpanned.
Joshua chuckled to himself. “Oh, no. It’s nothing. Nothing at all~”
Neku threw him the most skeptical glare he could manage. Joshua grinned back.
“Alright, break’s over. Back to work.”
Neku groaned in frustration, but obediently leaned forwards regardless. He placed his palms on Joshua’s, sighed, and concentrated.
“Once more.” Joshua’s energy slowly shifted upwards, sliding into what seemed to be a nice equilibrium, and stopped there. Neku tried to follow it. His own energy seemed to waver, trying to reach the point that Joshua had, before flickering and sliding back to where it was.
He cursed under his breath, his fingers momentarily moving forward and passing through Joshua’s. “Joshua, I can’t-”
“Stop being a baby and try again.” Joshua pulled back so that it seemed as if they were just barely touching, even though the only contact between the two was a connection of energy that straddled two different Planes. Neku grunted and tried once more.
He pushed, pushed his energy, trying just for once to shut the damn bastard up so that he could go home. They’d been at this an hour longer than usual already and Joshua was now-
Something shifted. Neku could feel it inside of him, the same shift that Joshua had made. Joshua’s fingers moved and Neku realized that he was solidly holding Neku’s hands. He opened his eyes in surprise.
“Did I just-?” And then Joshua tilted his head and suddenly it wasn’t their foreheads that were touching but their lips…
Joshua pulled back with a small grin, studying the stunned Neku before him. “I wanted it to be in the UG. You’ve finally come to me, my dear Producer.” He smiled. “Neku…” The name was said in more of a purr than anything else.
Was that an actual smile on his face? Was Joshua capable of actually smiling?
Neku wasn’t sure what was the most surprising. That he was finally in the UG or that Joshua was smiling or his first kiss or the fact that they were still holding hands or the kiss or that Joshua had been almost gentle with him or the kiss or the kiss or…
Neku flushed bright red and yanked his hands away, quickly shoving his chair backwards. “W-What the hell?!” he stammered. His brain had finally almost caught up to what had just happened. Joshua smiled up at him, but he seemed a bit more amused now than he’d been a few seconds ago. “Why the hell did you do that, asshole?!”
“Because~” Joshua lilted, the smile becoming more like his usual smirk every moment. Neku stared down in surprise, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to react. Joshua had just… they… he’d… they’d just kissed.
“What the hell, Josh?!”
“Was that your first kiss, Neku?”
Neku startled. “Y-… what does that have to do with anything?!”
Joshua chuckled and smirked at him. “Aw, you saved yourself for me! Hee hee.”
Neku suddenly felt all the blood rush to his face, and he flushed brighter than he probably ever had before. He’d just wasted his first kiss. On Joshua of all people. The first kiss, which is supposed to be nice and somewhere special and with someone he really liked and here he’d just wasted it in the UG with the person he most wanted to punch in the face. Joshua was officially out to ruin his life.
“I’m going to kill you…” he muttered through clenched teeth, his face still red.
“Congratulations on raising your vibe.”
The change of subject caught Neku off-guard. After a moment he latched onto it, wanting to think of anything but exactly why he hadn’t yet actually felt the urge to smack Joshua. “Yeah, well it’s not like you made it easy or anything.” He crossed his arms and glared.
Joshua chuckled. “Oh, please, Neku. I imprinted you with the information, I let you copy my energy, I did everything I possibly could to speed along the process. If you felt you picked it up slowly, that’s your own incompetence.”
Neku scowled at the word ‘incompetence’, shooting Joshua the nastiest glare he could manage as if he hadn’t already been doing it.
“Can I go home now?”
“I don’t know, can you?” Joshua grinned. “You’re in the UG, after all, don’t you need to-?”
He cut himself off, mildly surprised as Neku slipped back into the RG like it was practically nothing. Neku seemed to notice, and shot Joshua something that was almost a smirk. “Weren’t expecting that, were you?”
“Well it isn’t much of a surprise since you spend all your time in the RG anyway.” Joshua shrugged, but Neku could definitely sense some sort of discontent beneath the indifference, and he inwardly reveled in it. He’d caught Joshua off-guard. It was a rare day when that happened. Almost made up for… he mentally smacked himself before he could follow that train of thought any farther.
“I’m going home, then.” Neku walked to the door. He slid it open, paused, and glanced back. Joshua was staring out the window, a small smile on his face. After a moment, Neku stepped out and shut the door behind him.
[CloseFiles]
Comments/critique are much appreciated.