Neku opened his eyes blearily, groaning under his breath. Why did his head hurt, and why was his bed so cold, hard and weird-smelling?

Opening his eyes a little wider, he began to realise that he was not, in fact, in bed, but lying on the street. He got up in a panic. He thought that this was it! Another Game?! At the beginning of his third one, they'd said he couldn't play another one! There had been so many tricks and loopholes... he'd actually trusted what Kitaniji told him, though! Ah, he should've known.

He stood up and brushed himself off, feeling stiff and unhappy. He didn't want to think about it, but he knew he had to pair up with someone pretty quickly if he wanted to survive more than a few minutes.

He patted his pocket to find his Player pin, only to find it empty, save for a few loose bits of cotton he'd picked at at the bottom of his pocket. How was he supposed to play without a Player pin? Could he?!

Just as he was feeling panic set in, he felt a soft jolt as a girl bumped into him and gave him a dirty look before walking on.

...

Wait.

Had she just... Yes, she had! She'd just bumped into him! She hadn't walked right through him!

He looked around the street, relief and ecstasy flooded through him. He was alive, he was alive! He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this happy! His mind was still fuzzy and he saw that he some sort sticky lump of something stuck to the leg of his shorts, but he didn't care! He'd gotten through the Game, he'd won, and everything was wonderful!

He was snapped out of his giddy thoughts by the sight of a girl across the street, staring at him intently, her head tilted slightly forward so that her face was partially covered.

He stared right back. She looked awfully familiar. Like... he'd seen her before... where? That hair... those features... He knew he recognised them, but he didn't know where from. He frowned and tilted his head to one side, trying to ignore the people pushing past him impatiently.

Neku's eyes slowly travelled down the girl's body. She was wearing the same-

Shiki! Of course! Mr. Mew! Those clothes! The face - the other girl in the photo on her phone!

She didn't look very comfortable in the clothes she was wearing, the skimpy green miniskirt and tight pink top. She was clutching a stuffed toy in front of her and apparently trying to appear inconspicuous.

Neku stopped staring and took one shaky step forward. He thought he might fall over, so he took large, rapid steps forward until he was close enough to Shiki that he could talk to her before bending his knees and placing his hands on them, trying to regain his balance.

Her eyes widened at him and she blinked like she couldn't quite see him properly.

"Shiki," he gasped out. He didn't have any other than that to say, he just wanted her to know that he knew it was her, though that was probably obvious anyway.

"Howdidyourecogniseme?" she squeaked out in a rush, squeezing Mr. Mew tightly as if he'd protect her.

"You're..." Neku paused and swallowed, trying to regain the breath that seemed to have left him. "The photo on your phone I saw that time... with you and Eri. I saw it. Remember?"

Shiki nodded. "I don't usually wear this outfit and I can't see you properly without my glasses," she said sadly, like she was about to start crying.

"That's not important!" Neku smiled breathlessly, and on impulse, drew her into a hug, which she seemed to appreciate because she went limp against him as if using him for support. "Aren't you excited?! Excited that we're alive?"

He felt Shiki smile slightly against his shoulder. "Of course I am. I'm just tired. I want to go home... get into some normal clothes... and get my glasses so the world isn't a blur."

"Well... I don't know what will happen now. Will it just be like we've risen from the grave?" Neku murmured, more serious now. He couldn't just waltz back into his house and act like everything was normal.

Shiki stood up again. "Good point... I hadn't thought of that. Ugh. I need to sit down." They sat down on the bench a few paces away, on the very edge of the seat. There were some questionable stains on the bench that neither teen wanted to risk sitting on.

"You don't have to look so scared," Neku said quietly, looking at Shiki in a way that seemed uncharacteristically gentle.

"But I am scared. You're seeing the real me for the first time. And everyone I know thinks I'm dead. I don't know what to do."

"Well, you don't have to worry about the first bit," Neku tried to joke. He was trying to be nice, to let her know that he wasn't bothered by the fact she didn't look like she did before, in fact he liked it, but it didn't seem to work because she just bit her lip and her eyes started to well up.

"Uh - no! I mean that's a good thing!" Neku said hastily. "I mean I don't mind! Please don't cry!"

This didn't seem to work very well either, but the emerging tears were replaced by a weak smile.

"Really?"

"Of course really," Neku said, his eyes still wide. He didn't want her to cry. He didn't know what he'd do then.

"Th-thank... yes. Um. Thank you." Shiki averted her gaze and fiddled with a loose thread on Mr. Mew.

As Neku put his arm around her and attempted to think up something to say that would make her feel better, she stopped paying attention to his nervous, awkward words, just sighing and leaning into his touch.

There were so many things they didn't know yet, so many things they needed to sort out.

They were both scared. They were both in the dark. Neither of them knew what to do.

Still, none of that mattered. It was confusing. It was frightening. But they were in it together, and somehow with Neku by her side, Shiki knew she could face all that problems that were bound to come up now.

They were together again, and for now, that was all that mattered.

Bah, what was that? I have no idea. THIS... was not as good as I wanted it to be. Might work on improving it later. I am a review addict, you know. Please feed my addiction?