And So It Begins

All you needed to remember is that Joshua isn't the only composer on Earth.

Amaya's Note:

Hehe, go ahead. Call me a stupid fangirl. The composer in this oneshot is modeled after me…without the skinny part [yesh, I'm not that thin!] This is a prologue to my KH/TWEWY crossover, The World Ends With You, Too.

Ashley is not my name. My parents aren't that stupid to call me something that plain. And I'm sorry for all those reading whose name is Ashley! She's the composer of San Francisco. I don't live there, mkkay? Just near, so forgive me if I get any sights wrong. But Ashley's visiting the group in Shibuya, because her Reaper's Game runs a bit differently…

//one-shot\\

Neku had started to enjoy life more after those three weeks. Shiki finally accepted her for who she is. Beat, who nearly punched Neku out for accidentally calling him Daisukenojo, was hugging his sister almost every few seconds. But Rhyme…had an uncanny affinity to squirrels. The older three of the quad knew the reason as to why, but found it better not to tell. The younger Bito had also asked that why whenever she closed her eyes, she only saw white. The answer was soon evident…Rhyme lost the Game and consequently lost her entry fee: her dreams.

One week after defeating Megumi, Joshua was faring finely as well. His Conductor was lost, and would have to begin casting for its successor. Until then, there would be no Reaper's Game and people who die in Shibuya simply die with no chance of returning. Indeed, the Composer thought, there's a reason for everything. He hated to confess it, but he did let his feeling get the best of him. He also hated to confess that he did start to love that Sakuraba boy, and that he was destined for more than saving Shibuya. Neku wouldn't be under Joshua's control anymore, and the people of the misty San Fran started to feel it too.

Joshua remembered the day he met San Francisco's Composer. She was five foot two, black-layered hair with a tint of brown and a build that almost rivaled Eri's. She was quiet but short-tempered, smart but devious and a voice that took his breath away. He met the girl while walking through an empty alleyway to WildKat. She had poked her head around the corner and smiled ever so slightly when their eyes met.

"Hi, are you the Composer?" She asked. The girl stood at the exit, blocking his way of escape. Hey, not like he needed to defend himself against a girl. She noticed the calmness in his eyes and cocked an eyebrow.

"Maybe. Just depends on who you are." Joshua replied. The girl seemed somewhat annoyed, and pulled out a photo.

She stuck it out to him, and Joshua dearly wanted to ask why this stranger had a picture of him. "This is you right!" She yelled out. But she soon saw the uncertainty on his face and calmed down. "Ashley. Ashley Secaria, Composer of San Francisco. Now are you Yoshiya Kiryu!"

Ashley almost looked menacing enough now to beat up a fellow Composer. Joshua giggled though. "Yes, I am. Now why are you here? Isn't that city populous? Surely there's a steady flow of deaths right now dear."

"Oh don't you 'dear' me! The Plane of Angels in California sent me here. So I'm on a job." Ashley looked at Joshua, who looked back horribly confused. She sighed. "You're obviously oblivious to the fact that even if you had a Director, Shibuya's going to fall, Yosh—"

"Please, call me Joshua! Just as Mother and Father use—"

"Liar. You don't even remember them. Stop trying to fill that empty void of a heart, Joshua." He didn't know why, and actually didn't know he was smiling until his hand subconsciously reached his face. Something in the way Ashley said his name made him all fuzzy inside. Weird, he thought to himself again. This was the same feeling Neku got standing next to Shiki.

He vigorously shook his head out of entertaining the thought. There was no way he was going to fall in love with Ashley. But he still felt the urge to talk to her, almost as if he needed to. "Ashley, you mentioned a Director earlier?"

The girl's anger was piqued as Joshua led her into the light. "Is there a place I can explain this to Sakuraba as well? It might prove too confusing at first, and maybe…a cup of coffee might work?" Ashley scratched the back of her head shyly as he looked down to her. Well, barely. He was only two inches taller than her. He laughed quietly because he knew where the SF Composer was going with this. "I heard that maybe…WildKat has better coffee than Starbucks?"

"You do know that my Producer's the owner of WildKat, right? I mean, you're not trying to mooch for a free cup, right?"

Ashley burst as she caved in. "Alright! I am! Freakin' jet lags the worst!" He laughed again, because he knew he had a chance to mess with Neku's head again soon enough.

//x~*~x\\

"You guys can feel that, can't you?" Rhyme asked. At that same instant, Beat and Shiki shivered and clutched their bodies. Neku grabbed his headphones as if a sense of assurance. Rhyme leaned against the Statue of Hachiko before she would faint. Something was up, and it was serious. She laced her fingers around the strings of her Bell Pendant, which Beat gave to her when they came back to the RG.

And even more mysterious, Neku got a phone call from none other than Joshua. He didn't want to answer it, but Shiki told him to ask about the screeching they heard just now. The audiophile's face scrunched up as if he really regretted answering the call. Then he pursed his lips. Then he cursed. Then he threw his phone on the ground (okay, Neku didn't do that last part. He just wishes he had.) Then he yelled into the speaker "WHAT THE HELL!"

A mother running by covered her child's ears and looked disapprovingly at the proxy. Shiki urged Neku to hurry up. He motioned to her for just another second. Another chill ran through the air and they shivered again. And finally, he wrapped the conversation up. "If she says it's that important, we might as well come. We were going to WildKat anyways…Y-yeah, later."

"Yo, Phones, what's goin' on?" Beat asked. Neku motioned everyone to hop on a bus that they'd take to Cat Street.

"Joshua…he says the Composer of…San…Pranisco came over?" He awkwardly muttered. He flipped open his phone and examined it closely as they sat down on the seat of the bus.

Shiki screamed excitedly at the sound of 'Pranisco.' "No way! He's talking about San Francisco! Eri's been making all these designs based from there! I really don't understand how they have beaches and wharfs! It's amazing!" The remaining passengers stared blankly at the girl. It really was an odd sight; a pig/cat owned by a fifteen-year old who's crazy for foreign places. "It's in California…y'know, home of Long Beach…" Shiki could tell she was losing her friends on this. "Disneyland? Yosemite? Fisherman's Wharf?" They held no response as she trailed off.

"Neku?" Rhyme finally said, after a few minutes of silence among the group. He focused his attention from the window to the younger girl. "Earlier you said someone told you it was important, but what was?"

He lagged behind as the bus reached their destination. Once again, he was returning to his concealed personality, the way he was at the beginning of the Game. He knew something, and that something wasn't going to be revealed anytime soon. But he decided to suffice for something simple. "Something…fate-driven." Fate. They all hated that word—no, hate is a strong word—strongly disliked. No, that wasn't strong enough. Their fate nearly destroyed their lives but in return, it brought the four of them together. "I…I guess we can be thankful for that." Neku silently told them.

For they knew, if fate took something from them, it would give something in return.

And instantly, Neku knew that fate was going to give them something, because it was making him waste his time to visit Joshua. The dusty-gray haired Composer smiled warmly to them as he cooled off his cup of coffee. Mr. H had a wide array of customers today: a bulky man in desperate need of a shave, a tall, slim girl with a blue conductor hat, and coincidently, the mother who scowled at Neku earlier. The sorts were here today, and the source of the pressure was too. "Neku!" He looked up just in time to dodge Joshua's flying hug. Joshua would've fell on the floor if he weren't the Composer, so he brushed himself off and led the group to a table. "Look, I know it's only been a week since the Game, but the work isn't done, not just yet."

Neku noticed a few of the customers around them glance at their direction. He summed up that they were just wondering why kids his age were still playing games. Then he laughed at that thought, because that's what he thought at first in the Game. "Yo, Phones," Neku woke up from his trance by a smack on the back of his head. He looked at Beat, who seemed a bit angry. "This ain't time to be laughin'!"

"Wha—what's happening?" Neku jerked his head and paid attention.

"As I was saying," Joshua continued. His face was serious again, something Neku took notice of. Ever since he knocked Megumi out, Joshua was always talking about who would get the promotion. He'd joke around, saying Kariya was perfect for the job, but everyone fully knew he would reject. "This Composer was telling me that Shibuya's in danger."

"Again!" Neku screeched. He stood up and his chair copied the sound. The restaurant turned their heads, and even Mr. H stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Again?" He said, calming down.

"Neku, not just Shibuya. Shibuya, as you know, is a part of Japan, and Japan is a part of a larger land mass called Asia. Asia is…a part of this world. This world, Earth, is in danger." Joshua's concept was received with blank stares. "Obviously, I'm not giving you a very good explanation. It's okay, Ashley, you can come over now!" Neku, Shiki, Beat and Rhyme looked among each other again. Who exactly was this 'Ashley' Joshua was referring to? He simply smiled (in ways that immensely scared Neku) when the girl in the conductor hat he saw earlier walked over. "Guys, meet San Francisco's Composer, Ashley Secaria. Apparently, my team isn't adequately staffed."

"I just said that you don't have enough people to properly work the Game!" The girl flailed her arms desperately. It only freaked Neku out more, seeing how this girl and Joshua seemed to get along so easily. Exactly how long have they been acquainted? Apparently, this girl also had Joshua's split personalities as she rested her arms to her side and set her eyes sternly at Neku. "Sakuraba, you're the Director."

"Ashley, you've yet to formerly introduce yourself…" Joshua taunted.

The girl sighed. "Ashley Secaria, Composer of San Francisco, yadda, yadda. Neku, being the Director is very importa—"

"Go tell them your age, Ashley…" He seemed to be going somewhere with this, a touchy subject with Ashley.

"…Fifteen…" She grumbled.

"Nngh, Ashley, how long have you been fifteen?" Neku could've sworn she cursed under her breath. She scowled at the Shibuya Composer, but if she was the Composer, they were sure to understand her age.

"Two months less that you…" Ashley crossed her arms and faced the other direction. Now, Neku simply figured she was bipolar. She raised an eyebrow when Joshua didn't retort. When Ashley turned to him, he was looking away, arms crossed as well. "Why don't you tell them how long you've been fifteen?"

"Easy. Unlike others, I can say that I've been fifteen for at least…oh, approximately 35,596,800 minutes. See, Ashley? Not that hard!" She grumbled again as Beat tried to use some mental calculator. Joshua wasn't going to make this easy…no matter how many times he said he would. Neku pulled out his cell phone and (like other sane people) actually used its calculator. But the number was large and was obviously going to take some time to…err, de-calculate.

"That's four hundred and twelve years." Ashley said passively. They looked amazed at her intellectuality but she brushed it off. "When you've lived as long as we have, things come to you naturally." She rested her head on the palms of her hands and sternly looked at Neku again. "To my assumptions, Kiryu hasn't told you about a Director? If I'm correct, he doesn't even know what it is, right?"

Neku tossed his glance desperately to his friends at the table. They were just as unsure as he was. He didn't know what to think of Ashley. One second, she was joking like hell with Joshua. But the next, she was giving him a low blow. Actually, he did know what to think: Americans are weird. "Uhh, yeh?"

"Mm-hmm, just as I thought. Neku, as a Director, you will erase minds." Ashley said calmly. His mouth formed an 'O' as to why he would erase minds, and once again, Ashley answered his mental question. "No, no, no, not every single one you come across. Sigh, this is where it gets difficult. Only the people who've won the Reaper's Game and decide to be Resurrected know about the Reaper's Game. But almost every Game, there are those individuals people who find out about the Game when they're not supposed to. The Director's job is to erase those people's minds of the Game. Uhh, I guess you're protecting the UG from people who haven't died…yet." Ashley hoped it was an easy concept for them to grasp, but when she looked around the table, the faces weren't easy to read. (There's a reason behind that: I know some people might not understand this. You don't have to fully just yet, wait for the story; the mystery's part of the plot) "You don't get it do you?"

Joshua spoke for the group. "Honestly, Ashley, you lost me. I don't know about them." He shrugged and took another sip of his coffee.

"Think of it as using Naminé's power for the sake of the Reaper's Game."

"Nah-me-nay?"

"Oh!" Ashley moved closer while muttering something about world border—uh, I mean order. "Dammit, I said that too loud. Neku, fate is fate, that's all you need to know."

Neku nodded slowly and cautiously. He still didn't hate fate but he still didn't like it…yeah, I think that's right. And Ashley turned to him again. She was talking to him, but the sound didn't match the movement of her mouth.

…You have the mind of a Composer, but you have the heart of a Keyblade Master…

"A Keyblade…Master?" The words flew awkwardly out of Neku's mouth. But it was enough to catch Ashley's attention. She looked worried, as if the world depended on it.

Hell, it always did.

and so it begins

Wow, I can't believe I finished this. I hope Ashley isn't Mary-Sue-ish. If she is, please tell me! I need to know! Comments are appreciated! Criticism is treasured! I know it sucks! This is the prologue for my KH/TWEWY crossover, The World Ends With You, Too. I hope you'll read them! Sigh, I know this too, I'm corny.

.:amaya-admired:.