"Hey, Mom, tell me the story of Momotarō again!" Beat pleaded as his mother tucked him into bed. She sighed and gave a soft chuckle, brushing Beat's hair out of his eyes.
"Again, Daisukenojo…?" his mother said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Haven't I told you Momotarō's story a thousand times? And hush, your little sister is sleeping right now."
"Yeah, but, it never gets old!" Beat whispered excitedly. "Come on… please, mom, please! I promise I'll go right to bed!"
"All right, but you have to promise that you'll go right to bed. No getting up," his mother whispered back.
Beat just nodded excitedly and scooted out of the way for his mother to sit next to him on the bed.
"There was once a couple who couldn't have any children. It made them sad to see other families walking around with babies while they had none. And so, they prayed for a child…" Beat's mother started.
"Come on… skip to the good part, I wanna hear about Oni Island!" Beat said, frowning at her. He didn't care for any of this mushy stuff. That was for girls. Beat was a man.
"Okay, okay… let me see… So, Momotarō's family was deep in debt. Momotarō decided he would do all that he could to help them and set off on his own to Oni Island, the distant island of demons…"
"It really isn't so bad," the Demon whispered in Beat's ear as he stared out the window of the train, watching the scenery of the Akita Prefecture roll by. It'd been a few hours since he'd given his hat to Joshua, and his head just felt wrong without it.
"How long are you going to sit there and brood about your most recent failure? We have work to do, so I expect you to stop this pouting."
Beat gritted his teeth and glared out the window. He wasn't about to give this thing any satisfaction after what he just went through. That Demon was getting no response from him.
He had found out a few hours ago that the Demon had been the reason he'd been so off lately, the reason he'd been getting those marks on his back. It'd been trying to possess him the whole time.
'Why the hell would that Demon wanna possess me, anyways?' Beat thought and scratched at his head.
"You're a human who became a Reaper, only to later return to being a Player. It was perfect," the Demon said. "I thought I could simply borrow your body for a while and take care of the problem… but the seal that contains your Reaper side bars me from entering. It's such a shame. Incidentally, that's also the reason that you saw those marks in your bathroom and got sick."
Beat scowled at the invasion of his mind and thought several choice curses at the thing. He couldn't see it, so he obviously couldn't punch it, but boy did he want to. He didn't really care what this thing wanted with him anymore. He just wanted to get it over with, bid the Demon goodbye, and return to Shibuya.
He'd promised Joshua, after all.
And Beat always kept his promises.
"If you think that you can simply ignore me, you are terribly mistaken," the Demon said. "Ignoring me is incredibly childish, Beat. You couldn't get enough of our conversations before I generously brought you on this cross-country trip. Is it the fact that you're going to be an even bigger disappointment to your parents now? You know, the last thing that your sister thought was 'I hope that Beat hasn't gotten himself into anything.' Imagine the disappointment in her eyes when she figures out that you have. Imagine pity for her stupid older brother coming back into her mind. Of course, there might also be a slight twinge of disgust that—"
"Shut up!" Beat shouted. Beat had been dealing with this Demon talking to him, pretending that it hadn't kidnapped him, acting like it hadn't just threatened to kill everyone he loved for hours. He was completely fed up.
A few of the people on the train with him gave him startled looks, but Beat didn't care. He got up and marched to a different cart, hoping that the creature would not follow him.
"You're making the people on the train worried, little one. They think you're a hoodlum doped up on drugs. Hmm… isn't that how your parents think that you'll end up as well? What's that term they call you when they get frustrated… oh, yes, yankii."
"Shut up…!" Beat hissed and locked himself in the bathroom.
He knew that his parents didn't have that much faith in him, which was what made the Demon's words sting all the worse. They were too busy with Rhyme, who had raised his parent's expectations way too high. Maybe their expectations always had been high. Beat honestly knew that they loved him. He knew, and that's what made it all the worse when he thought about how he'd let them down.
He never got grades that were good enough.
He hung out around all the wrong people.
He spoke like a gangster.
He was too violent.
He let his emotions get him wound up too easily.
He wasn't going to go to college.
He hadn't been able to protect Rhyme.
Beat just scowled at himself in the mirror. He'd tried texting Rhyme earlier to tell her that he was okay, only to notice that his phone didn't have a signal. The Demon had actually turned him into a dead zone.
The train had begun to slow down and suddenly reached a complete halt.
"It's time..." the Demon said. Beat almost shivered at the excitement in its tone. It was looking forward to killing one of its own kind!
"Why you wanna kill your friend, anyway…?" Beat muttered and left the bathroom, ignoring some of the people who were lining the sides. He knew they were staring at him, muttering about the crazy kid who was talking to himself.
He hadn't brought any money (he hadn't expected to be forced on this cross-country trip). But on the way to Oga, yen somehow ended up in his pocket. He had a suspicion that the Demon was stealing the yen from the people they had passed between stops. Beat felt dirty thinking about it, and a new wave of hate for the creature surged through him.
He hated crooks.
"A certain Namahage owes me something and I decided that I needed a little muscle to collect," the Demon said.
"Can't you jus' get a friend to help or somethin'? Why you usin' me for a henchman?" Beat asked as he hopped off the train, ignoring the stares he was getting from the other people. He needed to get somewhere where he was alone so people wouldn't think he was crazy, because he actually wasn't crazy.
"I suppose that I am not the most popular Demon around," it replied. "Besides, with such a refined Imagination and with your destructive abilities… this shouldn't be hard. In any case, now is the time to find an inn to stay at. We will begin looking tomorrow."
"…'Aight…" Beat muttered and started walking. He stuck his hands into his pockets, only to grimace when he felt the yen inside.
After a few weeks, Beat finally had a trail. He had just arrived in Akita City and was walking down the street with a map tucked under his arm, drinking some water and eating insta-noodles that he'd gotten from a convenience store. There'd been nothing noteworthy in Oga, so the Demon had decided that they needed to look elsewhere.
The city had initially reminded Beat of Shibuya, what with the bustling streets full of people all caught up in their own worlds. However, it didn't have the towering buildings that Beat was used to seeing in his hometown. The buildings were farther apart, which made Beat feel that the town was more open than Shibuya. The air here, unlike the air at home, smelled fresher.
It was when he was crossing the street that he'd noticed a newspaper lying in the crosswalk. Beat picked it up, wondering if maybe there'd be something about Shibuya in the newspaper. There had been something better.
It was an article about a series of missing girls in the area. None of them had been found yet, and the police were scratching their heads over it. All of the girls had simply vanished off the face of the earth.
They were all fourteen years old.
"It says here that they all have blonde hair and brown eyes... That's definitely our quarry. I don't know what it could see in those types, though. Boys are always much more fun," The Demon murmured. "I finally found you."
"I thought I found him," Beat said, looking at where he presumed the Demon would be standing. Of course, he still couldn't see it, but pretending he could always made him feel a little bit better. "'Sides, what's it doin' so far from Oga? Ain't they the ones with the ritual?"
"Demons are everywhere. We aren't bound to an area, like the Composer or his little Angel friend. We have free rein to roam wherever we please," the Demon answered.
Beat stared straight into the newspaper, trying to ignore the small chills running down his spine. Silently, he sat down at a bus stop to wait for the first bus right back to their motel.
"Now, let me see…" the Demon muttered and was silent for a while. Beat put the newspaper down next to him and returned to eating his food.
After twenty minutes of silence, the bus still hadn't arrived.
"Aha...!" the Demon finally shouted. "There you are."
Beat, who was in the middle of drinking his water, started choking on it in surprise. He didn't hear what the Demon was saying over his own loud coughing, and ended up dropping his map.
At last, when he stopped coughing, he heard the Demon purr into his ear.
"Now then, Beat, get us to the Omono River."
At that, Beat perked up. It was about damn time that they finished this! Beat grinned widely as the bus arrived. He leaned down and picked up his map and boarded.
Unfortunately, he still hadn't gotten used to finding the quickest route. The Demon whispered the route he needed to take into his ear and Beat was able to get off at the right stop.
Eventually, Beat arrived at the river and was dismayed to find that it was getting dark out. The sun was just starting to become obscured by the few trees that surrounded them. The grass that sprouted from the forest floor was long, rising to his waist, and he wished that the Demon could have taken a more public path.
Of course, that Namahage probably wasn't hanging around all the other people. He'd seen pictures of them in his history class once. They were ugly ogres that couldn't dream to walk amongst people unnoticed.
"Why do I always have to go to these goddamned rivers?" Beat muttered to himself and started charging toward the shore, only to find that there wasn't one. It was just a small drop-off into the river itself, not the gentle incline into the water.
"Careful, little one. Namahage is a little bit of a pyromaniac. I wouldn't want my little vessel to get burned, now would I?" the Demon chuckled.
"Vessel…? I thought you said that you couldn't possess me!" Beat shouted and was startled to find that he couldn't move; his limbs were locked in place. "What the hell?!"
"I lied. This will only hurt for a few minutes, then you'll fall into the most comfortable sleep you've ever been in," the Demon hissed as Beat's world started to spin. Suddenly, a rocket of pain shot up Beat's spine and he fell to his knees, yelling in agony and screwing his eyes shut. He was burning everywhere! Who had set him on fire?!
Another jolt of lightning shot through Beat's back and he heard something tear, but he didn't care because all he wanted was someone to put out the goddamn fire-it was killing him! Water, he needed to get to water!
Forcing his eyes open, Beat saw the river flowing in front of him. He tried to rush over to it, but his feet weren't working and the fire was getting hotter! Beat was sure that he was going to start melting any moment. He was suddenly aware of a loud wailing. With a start, Beat realized that he was making the noise.
The water was so fucking close, but he couldn't move! He needed to get to the water! With a loud grunt, Beat used most of his remaining strength to fall onto the slight incline at the edge of the river. He started to roll forward. And then, with the last lingering bit of strength, Beat rolled off the edge and fell into the river.
To Beat's confusion, the pain didn't leave; it only seemed to become more intense! Beat opened his mouth to scream again, only to choke on the lack of air. Water was filling his lungs as he tried to breath and his chest was feeling tight and he was still on fire and it hurt, it hurt, it hurt!
Finally, things started to get dark—although he was still in pain—and Beat welcomed it. He wanted to go. It was comforting where that darkness was. It was safe and there was no fire.
Briefly, he thought about his sister and parents. He thought about Neku, Shiki, and Eri… about Joshua and Shibuya. He vaguely felt himself break the surface of the water. He hadn't even realized that he had been swimming. Weakly, Beat tried to move to grab a branch, but he found that he wasn't in control of his body.
Everything just kept getting darker. It was getting harder to keep thinking, too. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad… Beat managed to form a slight smile before everything went black.
…
(Giving up already, Beat? Jeez, that's not like you at all…)
Huh…?
(Beat, don't you dare let this thing win! Please… fight it!)
That sounded like…
(You promised Joshua that you'd come back, right? Don't you dare let us down, Beat…!)
Like someone that he knew… people that he knew…
(I thought that you never went back on a promise, Beat… You promised you'd come back…)
Neku… Shiki, Eri, and Joshua… Those were their names! Neku, Shiki, Eri, Joshua, and…
(I know you can do this, Beat!)
Rhyme!
All of a sudden, Beat's eyes flashed open. They were right. He couldn't let this thing beat him! Never in a million years would Beat give in to a Demon!
"What?! How are you still awake?" the Demon shouted. It had been in the process of choking the life out of the Namahage and, due to Beat's reawakening, had been distracted. This allowed for the Namahage to shove Beat's body off of it, causing Beat to fly into a tree.
"I ain't gonna let you have your way with me!" Beat shouted in defiance. "Get the hell outta my body!"
The Demon, caught between smothering Beat's conscious and fending off the attacking Namahage, was caught at a crossroad of decisions.
"We're both going to be erased if I don't erase this Namahage first, Beat! Let me work!" the Demon screeched and attempted to slam Beat's conscious back down into the darkness. It barely had time to dodge a stab from the Namahage's flaming torch before Beat rose back up.
"It ain't happenin'! You can't push me around-I ain't gonna stay down!" Beat thundered, his consciousness quickly growing in size. The Namahage, sensing that his opponent was at odds, dashed forward and slammed its torch into the side of Beat's face, sending him hurling into the river again.
The Demon, still in full possession of Beat's body, clawed toward the surface and gasped for air. As soon as that first breath was taken, it was slammed into the air by a swift kick.
"Tengu… you know that you cannot win against me," the Namahage hissed as Beat's body hovered in the air. "Not when your vessel has such strong willpower. Surrender and I will make your erasure less painful."
The Demon growled and suddenly Beat's body was speeding toward the Demon, fist drawn back and ready to send the Namahage flying.
The Namahage simply raised its torch in a defensive stance, looking bored now.
Beat knew what he had to do: he stopped resisting the Demon and went along with the action. He needed to get rid of this Demon first, and then he would have his body back. There was no way that he'd get beaten back down.
With the added power of Beat's consent, Beat's fist smashed into the torch of the Namahage and it immediately splintered; breaking into two. At that moment, he landed on the ground and grabbed the ugly head of the Namahage between his large hands. He brought up his knee and drove it into the nose of the demon while pulling its head down.
The Namahage screeched and a loud crunching sound issued from its nose. It released the Demon and stumbled back, clutching at its nose, having dropped one of the torch fragments. Blood was pouring from its nose in a steady trickle.
It wasn't allowed a single moment to counterattack as it suddenly found the Demon's elbow shooting straight for the Namahage's neck. Barely in time to stop it, the Namahage quickly blocked the blow by using one of the torch fragments as a shield.
The Namahage's other hand flew forward and punched the Demon in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him skidding back. The Demon, gasping for breath, made a run for the Namahage and feigned a dash to the right.
The Namahage was fooled and brought its torch fragment forward in a violent jab, only to stumble forward when it hit nothing but air. The Demon lashed his leg out and tripped the Namahage and reaching for the other half of the torch it had dropped.
Unable to stop its momentum, it tumbled forward and only just caught itself on its hands and knees. Realizing that the battle had fallen back out of its favor, it scrambled to its feet and attempted to flee. It got about ten feet before a piercing pain shot up its spine and it let out a howl of agony.
Craning its head to look, the Namahage saw the Demon holding the torch fragment tightly in his hands and was removing it from its back. Blood clung to the torch, being partially absorbed by the wood it was made from.
The Namahage tried to crawl forward to get away, only to let out an animalistic roar as the sharp end of the torch came down again, again, and again!
Soon, the Namahage's body began to blur and the heavy sound of a static buzz filled the air. The Demon stood there; watching stoically as the Demon before them sizzled out of existence, being erased from the very fabric of reality.
The Demon was pleased and turned to walk away, reviewing the injuries that Beat's body had received. It wasn't too bad considering how many times it had been thrown around. There was a broken wrist, bloody knuckles with a few broken fingers, a fractured rib, and a… oh dear, a dislocated jaw bone.
The Demon would have frowned if Beat's body had been capable of it. The fighting seemed, thankfully, to have broken down Beat's consciousness again.
"Think again, dumbass," Beat snarled within, his will flying in full force against the Demon. Beat's body stopped moving as the two parties battled for dominance of it.
"Where did you come from?!" the Demon snarled back, stunned that he hadn't noticed Beat.
Beat, fueled by his fury, shoved the Demon with all of his mental might, regaining brief control of his body. Letting out a furious yell, Beat started running forward to get to the nearest civilized area.
'That Namahage is dead, yo! My contract's finished!' Beat thought spitefully, fully away that the Demon was still present in his body, fully aware that he didn't have much time before it recovered from Beat's harsh blow.
Beat wasn't sure he could fight back a second time. Was the fire he felt the pain of his injuries, or was it the Demon trying to reel control back in? Beat hoped that it was the former as he ran through the forest.
"The contract is finished when I say it is finished, Daisukenojo. How are you going to explain your wings to the public?" the Demon said smugly.
His wings?
What?
'The hell you talkin' about?' Beat thought and looked back. He was startled to see his old Reaper wings fanning out.
'No way…' Beat stared at his wings, completely shell-shocked. That was all the opening that the Demon needed to launch another assault, causing the burning sensation spread across his whole body again.
"Yes, it is true that the seal that was placed to contain your Reaper abilities barred me from possessing you," the Demon purred. "However, I broke that seal to possess you. I've been wearing it down the entire time we've been on this adventure. Now that the seal that blocks me is gone…"
Another wave of agony surged up Beat's spine and his wings flapped wildly from the pressure. His skull felt like it was splitting!
His vision was beginning to go dark again—like before—and his limbs were starting to feel heavy. Very heavy; and Beat was so very tired. He had done what he had had to do. He'd killed the Namahage, he'd fulfilled his duty… was a small nap so uncalled for?
'No way!' Beat roared. 'No way am I lettin' you control me again!'
Beat forced himself to take a step forward, fueled by his thoughts of his home, going back to everyone, seeing everyone again. It was strange-like he could feel everybody with him at that exact moment. Just like that last time he had almost given up.
Neku was right next to him, supporting him and trying to help him walk forward. Eri was on the other side and holding his arm tightly, making sure that he didn't fall. Rhyme was right in front of him, holding a cellphone to her ear and talking with someone. There was someone behind him—it felt like Shiki—who was holding him up from behind, right between his Reaper Wings.
Beat wondered where Joshua was in this hallucination of his, but didn't pay any mind to it; he needed to keep moving, like how everyone was helping him to.
'Thanks, guys…' Beat thought, feeling a strange sort of power flow through him, like he was more in control of his body. He couldn't hear the Demon anymore, either. It was getting easier to move, but harder at the same time. He was so tired still, but he never entertained the thought of sleeping.
He'd come much too far for that.
He couldn't disappoint his friends.
He couldn't disappoint himself either. Wasn't that what Neku had told him a while back, that he had to live for himself?
He wasn't going to disappoint himself.
Beat opened his eyes to see almost nothing but white. Where was he now…?
'Why's the forest white?' Beat thought to himself. He tried to call to for help, but found that he couldn't open his mouth.
Blinking slowly, Beat tried to turn his head to the side and found that he couldn't do that either. He was stuck, chained down to the ground! Looking down at himself, Beat could barely make out the rest of his body through the haze that seemed to cloud his vision. Slowly, Beat's vision began to clear until he was able to make out the details of his surrounding. That was when he noticed the state of his arm.
His arm was wrapped up in white!
'Spiders? Was I wrapped up by spiders?' Beat was strangely unconcerned by the thought. He figured that it was bad if he was, but it didn't bother him. In fact, he felt oddly happy about it. If he was wrapped up, he wasn't going to be able to get possessed, right?
Beat would have laughed if he could. He'd have laughed and laughed. When the spiders let him go, he thought he'd find Rhyme and tell her all about how he had been wrapped up in spider web, unable to be possessed. It would be great.
Hold on, maybe he wasn't wrapped up in spider web… Maybe he was on a cloud! He was on a cloud up in the sky and Beat knew this because he felt all float-y.
He was on a cloud and getting ready to float all the way back home to Shibuya.
Suddenly, the door opened and Rhyme walked in, followed by Neku, Shiki, and Eri.
"Beat… you're awake," Rhyme said as she walked over and leaned over him.
''Course I'm awake. If I wasn't, I'd be asleep…!'
The thought amused Beat greatly, but before he could laugh he saw Neku and Eri walk to the other side of the bed. Shiki moved to stand next to Rhyme.
"You better explain where the hell you've been," Neku frowned at Beat. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Don't ever run off like that again, Beat!" Shiki said, giving Mr. Mew a tight hug before placing the stuffy next to Beat. "Here, you can have him for now, for good luck."
Just then, another person walked in. This one was wearing a white coat.
"Hey, you four, Daisukenojo's still on morphine; he's not very perceptive right now. I'd advise you to return tomorrow when he's returned to his senses. I doubt he even knows where he is," said the man in the coat.
'Not true, I'm on a cloud of spider webs…!'
"Well, Beat, I guess we'll have to see you tomorrow…" Eri sighed.
The four of them all turned and left the room, leaving Beat to his recovery.
"So, how the hell'd you guys find me again?" Beat asked. It had been a few months since he'd been found by his friends near Omono River and he his jaw had finally healed completely. He hadn't been able to see anyone except Rhyme and his parents for the whole time. It was his punishment for running off like he had.
"It was easy enough," Joshua replied, who was sitting on the side of Beat's bed, replied, "after that incredibly difficult time you gave us."
Technically, Beat was still grounded and forbidden to see anyone outside of his family, but Joshua had a tendency to not care about rules. And it wasn't like he was going to get caught or anything.
"…Sorry…" Beat muttered, looking down. He'd been saying that a lot lately, it seemed. He couldn't tell his parents why he'd left; they'd never believe him for a second. Even worse, they might ship him off to the loony bin and he'd never get out.
And he couldn't bring himself to tell Rhyme how much he'd messed up. He just couldn't.
"Never mind the apologies, dear. Now, are you going to tell me what happened and why you left? I'd also like to know why Akita City's Composer had to remove a Demon from you," Joshua said and gave him a dark look. "That is why you left, isn't it?"
At Beat's sullen silence, Joshua just sighed. "What on Earth am I going to do with you…?"
"I took care a' it…" Beat looked back at Joshua with a frown, trying to defend himself.
"Oh yes, you took care of it perfectly. Tell me, Beat, do you enjoy listening to Demons? I—"
"I know I screwed up!" Beat interrupted him. "'Cause that's what I do, right? It's all I'm ever goin' to do! There ain't a thing in the world that I'm good at! Whenever I try to do the right thing, I'm doin' the wrong thing and nobody's ever goin' to let me forget it, huh?!
"It's so sick, man. Never being smart enough for anyone. I thought that I… that I could change after I played that goddamn Game of yours, I thought that I might be able to make a difference. That my folks... But, nothing's changed…! I still screw up and my parents don't think I'm worth it and they'll always be disappointed and it's the worst joke in the damn world and I'm the butt a' it!"
Beat was breathing heavily at the end of his tirade. He realized he'd jumped to his feet.
There was an odd mixture of surprise and something Beat didn't recognize on Joshua's face. Beat's outburst seemed to have blown part of his mask right off.
"Beat," Joshua started, but Beat cut him off.
"I don't wanna hear 'bout your pity, Josh," Beat muttered wearily.
"Beat, I don't pity you…" Joshua said quietly. "I never have. I don't 'pity' people. I prefer not to attend those kinds of parties."
At that, Beat was silent. He fell backwards onto his bed and rolled so that he was facing away from Joshua, staring at the wall. It was another minute before he spoke again.
"Why'd you come over, anyway…?" Beat asked, not turning around.
"I came to ask you why you left, Beat. Oh, and to give this back."
Beat felt Joshua drop something on his head and when he turned to look, saw a mass of black fabric. He grabbed it and held it up to his face, eyes going wide when he recognized the skull design.
"Yo, man, my hat!" Beat exclaimed, quickly putting it back on. "What the hell took so long in getting this back to me?"
"That doesn't matter. Beat, are you going to tell me what caused you to leave? What did that Demon say to you?" Joshua frowned at Beat, causing the smile to drop off of Beat's face like a bird that had hit a window.
"It… it said that it was goin' to kill everyone I knew… I didn't want anyone to get hurt 'cause I… did something stupid again." Beat looked back at Joshua. "Better me than anyone else. 'Least they all got a future."
Now it was Joshua's turn to be quiet. It was around a minute before he spoke again. "That has got to be both the most stupid and the most selfless explanation that I have ever heard, Beat, and I have lived for a very long time.
"Everybody has a future, a role to play in the universe. It might take a long time to figure it out, but it exists. The people you meet, the people you befriend—every conversation that you've ever had with anyone has affected them—if only on a miniscule level. It's our interactions with others, and the way that we change them and ourselves, that make us grow. By simply talking to people, you can help them, and fulfill the role you need to play.
"You need to stop looking at what you've done wrong and look at what you've done right, Beat. You, I'll admit, probably did end up saving people due to your actions. You saved your sister and almost sacrificed your morality to get her back. You helped Neku save Shibuya, Beat. If you hadn't been in my Game with Kitaniji—if a single thing had been different in those three weeks—Shibuya would be gone.
"I'm not just grateful for Neku, Beat. I'm grateful for all of you."
Beat's stunned silence was all that Joshua received at that point. What could he say to that?
"In any case, you asked how Neku and his friends found you… it was actually me that found you," Joshua said after another minute of silence.
"Huh…?"
"Well, Beat, while you were in the hospital, you told us that the Demon had turned off your cellphone signal. This was what was keeping us from calling you or contacting you." Joshua let out a small smirk. "But there was something that it had forgotten about. Modern cellphones come equipped with a GPS device. The Demon was covering that up, too, but during the battle its energy was diverted elsewhere—mainly into keeping you down and destroying the Namahage.
Unfortunately, it did take several hours for them to get there with your parents. As your other friends already told you, when they reached the forest they all split up to look for you. Neku found you first and called for the others. As unlucky as it is, I was unable to leave Shibuya to come and find you as well."
Beat frowned at that, thinking back to how long it had taken them to find him. "How long was I possessed for, man?"
"A long time, Beat," Joshua muttered. "I don't think that your consciousness came back until the last few minutes of the battle between the Demon and Namahage."
Beat nodded at that and sighed loudly, running his hand through his hair roughly. "And what the hell happened with my wings then…?"
"That… is a different story. You aren't a Reaper anymore, Beat. You're completely alive. The Reaper side of yours was thoughtfully resealed by Akita's Composer, so I wouldn't worry about it," Joshua shrugged, getting out his cellphone to idly start up a game of Highs and Lows.
"HELL YEAH!" Beat shouted as he read over the letter he had received in the mail. It actually happened! This was actually going to work!
"You—" Rhyme started to say before Beat scooped her up and twirled her while laughing loudly. Both of his parents looked up and walked over quickly.
"Good job, Daisukenojo!" his mother said. "You did it."
"'Course I did!" Beat replied and put Rhyme down, giving his mother a bear hug. She returned the hug and pecked him on the cheek.
"I'm proud of you." Beat's father took the letter from him and read it over. "It's been a few long and hard years, but you did it."
Beat's eyes were practically sparkling at this point and he couldn't resist digging his cellphone out of his pocket and calling everyone, calling Neku, Shiki, Eri, and Joshua.
It didn't take long for all of them, even Joshua, to get over to celebrate.
"I knew you could do it," Eri giggled and gave Beat a friendly peck on the cheek, causing him to laugh and sweep her up into a bear hug as well.
Then, figuring that he should share the love, Beat proceeded to give every single one of them a hug too.
Neku just took it and awkwardly gave Beat a pat on the back, but he was smiling through the whole thing. Shiki obviously returned the hug full force and it was actually her that refused to let go. Finally, it was Joshua's turn. He, for once, kept his mouth shut and didn't make any comments regarding Beat's sexuality.
At last, Beat un-crumpled the letter in his hands and started reading it out loud for all of his friends to hear.
"Congratulations, Daisuke—screw it, I got accepted into Kokugakuin University, guys! Ain't that amazin'?!" Beat cheered and fist pumped before falling back onto the couch when Shiki ran over and hugged him again.
It had been a very difficult few years for Beat. He'd been working harder than he'd ever worked before to get his grades high enough to apply. It had been a group effort on everyone's part to help him with his school work.
Evidently, it had all paid off in the end.
"And what, pray tell, are you going into, Beat? What will be your major?" Joshua asked and sat down next to him, with Rhyme on the other side. Neku and Eri just leaned over him from behind.
"Shinto Studies," Beat replied and grinned at all of them. "Then, I'm gonna learn Demonology."
"What…? Why would you want to do that?" Eri asked and prodded his beanie with her finger.
Beat hadn't exactly told them all why he'd been so adamant about getting into this particular university. So, what he said next came as a complete surprise to all of them, even Joshua.
"Well, I ain't gonna let what happened to me happen to anyone else, yo. It… it's sick that it had to happen or that it does happen. So, I'm goin' to work to stop Demons from runnin' 'round and possessin' whoever they want to. Havin' that happen… I finally figured out what I want to do, what I need to do.
"I'm goin' to become a Demon Hunter."
~ End ~
(A.N. *long exhale* All right. This is it. I've finally finished this after literal months of work. I'm pretty damn proud of it too. It's one of the longest one-shots that I've ever written and the first multi-part fanfiction that I've ever done to boot. I hope that the amount of time that I put into this shows and you that you all enjoy reading it.
I'd like to thank my main beta-readers: Inita and Thief for sticking through this with me, as well as my close friends Mizu and Kat for dealing with me and helping me to get this typed up in general.
This was more of a group effort than me just hacking up a story and posting it. So, I'll see you all next time.)