Alyssa's A/N: Well, I think it's safe to say that I am in love with The World Ends With You. I fell in love with Joshua, and he's quite entertaining in the game. You can definitely see the spark between him and Neku. ;) I apologize in advance if this isn't very good! It's my first attempt at a multi-chapter fic, and it's only my second story. D:
Summary: The time limit of the Reaper's Game was seven days. Once back in the Realground, Neku realizes how much he longs for Joshua to re-enter his life, finding himself at the Station Underpass. Joshua, you have seven days.
Warnings: Spoilers all over the place! I'd advise you not to read this if you have not finished the game! Rated M for future chapters. Shonen-ai/yaoi. Language in future chapters. OOC-ness is abound.
Disclaimer: TWEWY/It's a Wonderful World belongs to Square Enix, Jupiter, and I suppose Nintendo. Come on, if I owned it, I wouldn't be here writing a fanfiction, would I?
You Have Seven Days - Let's Play A Game
Seven days. That was the time limit which players had to conquer the Reaper's Game.
Seven days. It's been a week since Neku and his new friends returned to their normal lives in Shibuya. After three weeks in the Underground, they were finally brought back to life—back to the Realground. It was strange, however, as people whom had known they had been dead were not suspicious upon their return. Neku believed that it was of his doing.
Seven days. It has only been seven days since Neku last saw him, but somehow, he missed him. He missed Yoshiya Kiryu, better known as Joshua. He missed his murderer, who was also the only person whom Neku believed truly understood him.
Joshua. He was the Composer, the one who dragged Neku into the reaper's game, claiming that Neku was his proxy in his game with his Conductor. Joshua. The ambiguously gay, jerk ass insufferable genius.
'Joshua…Why the hell am I thinking about him?'
Neku groaned, frustrated, and fell to the ground. He sat on the ground, leaning against the Udagawa CAT mural he admired. Pulling his headphones to his ears, Neku sighed.
A fortnight ago, Joshua stood in front Neku, acting as a barrier from Sho Minamimoto's gun at Pork City. Twenty-one days ago, Neku had met Joshua after he forced a pact upon him at the Statue of Hachiko. Twenty-eight days ago, Neku was thrust into the UG and into the Reaper's Game because Joshua had murdered him…Murdered him in the spot right in front of Neku's current position by the mural. Many things took place during his three weeks a part of the Reaper's Game, and Neku had changed dramatically since then.
On the roof of the Pork City building, Joshua and Neku stood, panting. Standing before them was the Game Master for the week, Sho Minamimoto, crazed from losing.
"Hah…You're zetta persistent," Minamimoto sneered, and then proceeded to gnaw on the flesh of his arm.
"Aw, what's wrong? Weren't you going to erase us at the speed of light?"
Damn, Joshua. He was too arrogant. Somehow, while Neku was still recovering from the battle, Joshua seemed to be unaffected, twirling a few strands of his hair between his fingers. Standing besides him, Neku mentally cringed. Was that bastard trying to provoke Pi-Face into another battle?
Neku's attention was forced on Minamimoto as the man began laughing maniacally.
"3.141592653589793238—"
"What the hell?" Neku interjected and drowned out the rest of the Game Master's recitation of a hundred digits of pi.
"The world's made up of numbers! I've been reverse-engineering my desired solution all along!" Minamimoto hunched over, absorbed in his power. It seemed that light was being emitted from "the Grim Heaper," another one of Minamimoto's nicknames. "I am victorious!"
"Look out! That psych's a Lv.i Flare!"
Neku had enough time to exclaim that there was nowhere to run before Joshua smirked and shoved the carrot-top to the ground behind him. He towered above Neku, arms outstretched.
"But Neku, I thought you couldn't afford to lose. Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world."
Those were his partner's last words, still echoing in his ears as a sound resembling a gunshot rang through the air.
Time seemed to slow down. All Neku could do was gape at the scene before him as a light engulfed Joshua and Sho Minamimoto and they disappeared. Joshua had been erased, or so Neku had thought.
The next thing he knew, Neku found himself in the Shibuya scramble crossing, once again.
'I have to open up my world and enjoy the moment. But why can't I?' Neku was feeling particularly introspective today, and he did not know the reason as to why. Fingers curled slowly, closing into a fist. Neku's hands trembled from the force.
"Screw you, Joshua! I haven't forgiven you, and I can't get over the game…" His voice came out in a harsh whisper, head dropping. 'Or you.'
Neku would never admit it, denying it to himself. He missed him. He had believed that he could trust him—believed that Joshua was his friend. He hoped that he had found someone who could understand him. Unfortunately, his hopes went crashing down when he and his partner for week three chased down the Conductor.
Dead God's Pad. That was where Neku fought Joshua, force combined with the Conductor. It was the location where Joshua revealed that he was the Composer all along. Joshua finally admitted to firing a gun at Neku, bringing him into his game as his "dear proxy". That was where Joshua resided as Composer, normally, overlooking Shibuya. It was where Joshua shot Neku again after he, Shiki, and Beat restored Joshua's hope in Shibuya. Instead of destroying Shibuya, however, Joshua returned them to their original plane, the RG.
'During the whole time during the game, you down-toned your vibe. I don't understand you, Joshua. I saw your true form, though it was brief, but did you even allow me to get a glimpse of your true self? You told me to trust my partner, but how could I when all you did was feed me lies?'
Neku's fist met the cement wall with a soft 'thud'. He grit his teeth, ignoring the dull ache of his hand. He could almost hear Joshua's infuriating giggling; he could hear the Composer telling him that if it wasn't for the actions he had taken, Shibuya would have been erased, and Neku would still be the same shut-off, antisocial "emo" he was before.
Neku let out a bitter laugh. He had saved Shibuya, as Joshua had said. Neku had worked with Joshua and saved Shibuya from being erased by Joshua. Restored Joshua's faith in human society, he did. If it wasn't for Joshua and his insane game with his own Conductor, Neku would not have been killed in the first place. He wouldn't have had to play the damned Reaper's Game for three weeks.
'Still, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have the friends I have now. I wouldn't have been able to open up my world and allow people in. I still wouldn't be able to understand people,' Neku thought. Oh, how he hated having such disputed musings because of his "dear, partner".
The red-head dug a hand into his pocket, pulling a fist back out and unclenching it. He glanced at his player pin, still slick and shiny after four weeks. He still kept it; it was a memento of his time in the UG.
Shoving the item back into his pocket, Neku stood up, mumbling.
"Damn, there are actually people here now."
Turning from the mural, Neku began to aimlessly wander Shibuya, not paying attention to the streets his feet were walking. He still felt insecure about being a part of the crowd, but at least he could lose himself in it.
It wasn't until he reached the Statue of Hachiko that he started thinking about his second week of the Reaper's Game again. It was the very statue where he and Joshua had made a pact. It was at the statue where he first met Shiki during the first week, along with her stuffed animal, Mr. Mew. He had made a pact with her, and after spending a few days with her, she helped him open up.
Thinking back, Neku realized that he had run past all his future partners on the first day of the game. Had he not been so focused on running from the noise, he might have noticed that he ran past Beat, Joshua, and Shiki before making a pact. Joshua had disappeared from the area after a pact between Neku and Shiki had been made.
While reminiscing, Neku failed to notice that his legs had brought him to the West Exit Bus Terminal, where the Statue of Moyai resided.
"There's the Moyai statue again." Neku spared it a fleeting glace.
"Say, Neku…" Joshua paused behind Neku, causing the red-head to pause, as well. Joshua didn't wait for him to respond and continued, slipping a hand into his pocket.
"Do you know how the statue got here?"
"No clue." Monotonous. He really wasn't interested.
"Well…It was a gift. The island of Niigima presented it in 1980 to commemorate a century under Tokyo administration. The name sounds like the Easter Island Moai statues it resembles—but, as it happens, in the Niijima dialect, 'moyai' also means 'working together.'"
"No kidding," Neku grunted, giving the boy indication that he heard him stop. Joshua sure knew a lot of random historical trivia.
"Just like you and me, Neku. The very picture of 'moyai.'" No doubt, he believed it was relevant. Trust your partner, was it? Players had to, if they wanted to survive. Well, they didn't have to completely trust each other; they just had to be able to work together towards one goal.
Huh, and Neku thought that he hadn't even been listening to Joshua's ramblings at the time.
Lowering his head, Neku continued walking. The station underpass was ahead of him. If he was already here, he might as well pay the place a visit, right?
Stepping into the shadows, the proxy stared at the road before him, dimly lit by the lights overhead. Shibuya River. Joshua had been "looking for it" during their week together—or rather, he was trying to lead Neku there.
He made his way to the edge of the path he knew was hidden in the UG. Standing at the border of the Trail of the Sinner, Neku stared at the space before him, as if he could see it, as well as the entrance to Dead God's Pad. He closed his eyes, trying to open up his senses and hear the music of Shibuya. The proxy shook his head in disappointment.
"Joshua, I know you can hear me."
No answer.
Of course, Neku wasn't really expecting an answer, but he couldn't help but hope.
"You have seven days." And with that, Neku turned his back from the Trail of the Sinner and faded back into the bustling city.
Alyssa's A/N: Well, that's it for now, folks. Please leave a review; I'd love some feedback! Was it horrid? I think it was, but then again, we're all harsh on ourselves, right? Was it too OCC? I mean, Neku has his "emo urges", but did I go too far?
Don't forget to review, you hear me? :)