Coolgal342 here. I don't own anything.

Tissues, Popcorn, and Chocolates

*Knock knock*

Neku waited outside the door, one hand awkwardly fiddling with the tie of his school uniform. The other hand was gripping a backpack containing a box of tissues, some snacks, and Shiki's homework.

With a sigh, Neku recalled how it came to this.

*Flashback*

Neku walked into his first class, his backpack slung haplessly over his shoulder. He slowly walked over to his seat in the back of the classroom, already dreading the school day. The only thing he enjoyed about school was that Shiki, Rhyme, and Beat went there with him, and Shiki was in most of his classes. Since they had gotten out of the Reaper's Game a year ago, the group had gotten together very often, strengthening the bonds between them.

As Neku took his seat, he watched the students filing into the classroom, waiting for a certain brunette.

Minutes passed, yet she never came. Neku's eyes narrowed in light confusion as Mr. Kyoshi started the roll call.

"...Amaya Sasaki."

"Here!"

"Sota Higurashi."

"Here!"

"Yuki Itami."

"Here!"

"Shiki Misaki."

Neku looked at the empty desk next to him, puzzled to why there was no occupant. He felt all of the students in the room shift their attention to the vacant desk.

"Shiki Misaki," Mr. Kyoshi repeated. He looked down at his roll sheet with a sigh.

"She's never missed a day before..." he muttered, though Neku could faintly hear it. The teacher checked something off of his sheet, before continuing.

"Mika Suzuki."

"Here!"

"Rin-" Mr. Kyoshi was cut off by a knock at the door. He quickly went to it, opened it, and stepped outside. Neku's incredible hearing picked up Shiki's name being used quite often, and a feeling of dread spread through him. He watched as the teacher came back into the room, and continued the roll call. Neku barely even registered his name being called until someone hit his arm.

After that, the class dragged on. Neku kept staring at the empty seat next to him, almost like he was just willing Shiki to appear.

Finally, the bell rang, and the students made a mad dash for the door. Neku picked up his books, stuffed them haphazardly into his backback, and made his way to the door.

"Neku, can I speak with you for a moment?" came the voice of Mr. Kyoshi. Neku turned warily, and, upon seeing his teacher looking expectantly at him, made his way to his desk.

"Miss Misaki is not here today. I know you are friends with her, as are the Bitos and Eri Takasi," Neku nodded, silently urging him to go on.

"Well, I need you or one of your friends to take her the work from all of her classes today. She can work on it over the weekend, once she feels better," Neku gave a small sigh of relief. All through class, worst case scenarios had been flowing through his mind. To hear that she was just out with a cold, he felt immensely relieved.

"I'll take it to her, Mr. Kyoshi," Neku assured, already heading for the door. The rest of the day went fairly quickly, Neku having informed his friends of Shiki's absence.

Soon enough, Neku found himself standing with Eri inside a small grocery store on the outskirts of Shibuya.

"Now, what were you saying before?" he asked Eri with a sideglance.

"Well, you have to bring her tissues, of course. And some snacks. Her dad keeps alot of healthy food in their house," Eri explained.

"This is stupid..." Neku muttered, but went to the tissue aisle anyway. He picked the first thing he could find, and then went back to Eri.

"Oh, heck no! Not the lotion kind!"

"You have got to be kidding me!"

"The lotion tissues will only make her feel worse. Trust me, I would know," Eri sent him back into the tissue aisle. He returned with another tissue box.

"Fine, that'll work. Now, to the snacks!" Eri dragged Neku to the food aisle. She handed him item after item, deeming them all worthy of her best friend.

"Shiki loves chocolate. And this'll make it extra special," she whispered to herself. Eri practically skipped to the checkout lane, Neku begrudgingly following behind her.

"Popcorn? Why does she need popcorn?" Neku demanded from behind her. Eri smiled to herself.

"Oh, trust me. She will need it," she chimed. Neku muttered something about irritating redheads while dumping the items on the counter. Everything was still for a moment, before Eri turned to Neku.

"You're paying, right?"

*End Flashback*

Neku did end up paying, and Eri sent him off to Shiki's house with a wink.

As it was, he was currently standing outside Shiki's house, waiting for someone to answer the door. His wait was soon over, though, as a tall man opened the door. He was a kind-looking man, with graying hair and green eyes that shone with unusual weariness. The man smiled brightly.

"Neku! What a pleasant surprise!" he said warmly. Neku slowly smiled back.

"Hello, Mr. Misaki. Is Shiki home?" he asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer. Mr. Misaki's smile widened.

"She is. Why don't you come in?" he stepped aside so that Neku could enter the house. The house was painted in all earthy tones, giving a comforting feeling to anyone who entered.

"She's in her room. Up those stairs and to the left. You'll be able to tell which room it is," Neku nodded his head in thanks, and started towards the stairs. A hand on his arm halted his movement, and he looked up at Mr. Misaki.

"I trust that you won't stay in there long, m'boy," Shiki's father warned, before smiling and walking into the kitchen. Neku's reddened face slowly turned back to its normal color as he climbed the stairs. He found a green door with Shiki's name painted on it in beautiful calligraphy. As slowly and as quietly as he could, he opened the door and entered the room.

"Hey Shiki, I have your-!" Neku quickly ducked as a book flew through the spot his head had been. It hit the wall with a loud clank, and Neku rounded on where he believed the girl to be.

"What the hell was that for?" he practically yelled. Shiki stifled a laugh.

"Neku, is that you?" she asked, clicking on her bedside lamp. She burst out laughing at his expression.

"Stop laughing, stalker!" he exclaimed, his frown melting into a smirk when she scowled at him. Suddenly, Mr. Mew was flying towards him, and he barely had time to react before the stuffed cat hit him in the face.

"That's what you get for calling me that," she told him, sniffling as she did so. Neku picked up the plush toy, setting it on her dresser as he made his way over to her.

"Well, I brought your homework," he told her. Shiki almost rolled her eyes.

"Out of all the things you could have brought, you just had to bring me work..." she muttered, sniffling. Neku smirked to himself and pulled out the box of tissues Eri forced him to buy. Shiki looked surprised, before she gratefully took the tissues and blew her nose.

"Thanks Neku," Shiki said. "And look! They're not even the lotion kind! Thank you so much!" She smiled at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"What's so bad about the lotion kind?" he asked. She tossed her tissue away in the trash next to her bedside.

"I'm allergic to something on them. I have no idea what, but it would have made me feel even more miserable." Neku stood there in mental shock, not letting it outwardly show. 'Maybe listening to Eri once in a while isn't that bad...' he thought.

He set down the bag he had been carrying, watching as she closed her eyes and sighed.

"How long are you here for?" Shiki suddenly asked, the silence shattering. Neku rubbed the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly.

"As long as I need to be. My parents are out of town," he answered. She smiled for just a moment, before looking away thoughtfully. Silence began to reign around them again, and Neku couldn't stand it.

"What?" Shiki looked taken aback.

"What'dya mean 'what'?" she asked. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I know you, Shiki. What do you want to say?" Said girl sighed, brushing a piece of brown hair behind her ear. She bit her lip.

"Can you stay for a while?" she asked, her face red. Neku passed it off as her fever.

"Uh...sure?" he answered, caught off guard by the question. Shiki smiled widely.

"Wanna watch a movie?" she asked excitedly. Neku smirked at her antics, amused.

"I guess..." he said, but paused. "But can we watch it downstairs? I'd rather not have your dad kill me for staying up here."

She laughed, grabbing her glasses off the bedside table and moving to stand up.

"Don't worry. My dad doesn't hate you. He actually-" Shiki was cut off by her own yelp as her legs gave out from under her and she fell back onto her bed. Neku held out a hand for her, and she took it, smiling with another "fever-induced" blush.

Neku pulled her up, watching with a frown as her legs wobbled as she tried to walk. 'No wonder she wasn't in school...' he thought, before he had a crazy idea. And, being Neku, when he had a crazy idea, it was normally a very crazy and un-Neku-ish idea.

He picked Mr. Mew up off of Shiki's dresser, handing it to the girl. She looked confused for a moment, but gasped as she was suddenly hoisted up into Neku's arms. She noticed the slight pink tinge spreading across his cheeks and nose, and she was sure that the same thing was happening to her. Neku frowned slightly at how light she was, before heading out of the room and to the stairs. He started down the stairs, ignoring Shiki's gaze. The awkward silence was heavy around them, and when he reached the bottom, he cleared his throat.

"The living room is that way, right?" he asked awkwardly, pointing forwards slightly. She nodded, and he walked forward, passing through different rooms before coming to the living room. As with the rest of the house, it had an earthy theme, painted in browns and greens. He set the sick girl on the sofa in front of the large television, before looking around.

"What movies do you have?" he asked, looking around the room.

"The movies are all in that cupboard over there," she said, pointing to a large cupboard on the far side of the room. "You can choose the movie."

Neku nodded, making his way to the cupboard. He crouched down, opening the mini doors and searching through the movies. His voice carried throughout the room as he sifted through the films.

"Spirited Away...nah...Astro Boy...no...Hachi...heard that story too many times...Harry Potter...no...What the hell?" He looked back to Shiki, raising an eyebrow. "Barbie Fairytopia?"

Shiki gave an indignant look, crossing her arms as best she could. "I was five, ok?" She huffed, much to Neku's amusement.

Neku turned back, pulling out a movie and walking to the television, putting the DVD in. He had selected Tangled, which he had found out was one of her favorite movies. Reaching for your dreams, no matter what, Shiki had said, was inspiring for the seamstress.

Neku went to sit down, before he remembered something. "Be right back!" he said, before sprinting out of the room and up the stairs. He came down a few moments later with his backpack. Shiki looked at him curiously, before he reached into the bag and pulled out microwave popcorn packets and some Twizzlers. He handed her the candy, before going into the next room (which happened to be the kitchen) and putting the popcorn in the microwave. He waited until it was done, taking it out and turning around to find a bowl.

After a few minutes, he sat down with Shiki after turning off the lights, a bowl of popcorn in his arms. Shiki took the remote and started the movie, looking over at Neku.

"You came prepared," she said teasingly, before turning back to the movie as Flynn started speaking. Neku leaned back, mentally surprised. 'Eri...how...?'

Shiki was totally lost in the movie, and Neku slowly joined her. As the credits rolled in, Neku blinked, coming back to reality.

Sharply coming back to reality.

He realized with a start that sometime during Tangled, they had moved closer. She was leaning against him, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He blushed brightly, trying hard not to move. Shiki came to the same realization shortly, and her gasp was what started it. They both jumped apart rather quickly, sliding to opposite sides of the sofa. Neku knew that Shiki's bright red face was not caused by her fever this time. She started stuttering out apologies.

"I-I'm sorry...I don't...I mean..." She was saying, looking everywhere but at him. Neku calmed down slightly, his hands fiddling with his backpack. He paused, though, when he noticed something else in there. He stuck his hand in, pulling it out slightly.

'I am going to murder Eri!' he shouted in his mind, his hand gripping the heart shaped box of chocolates tightly. How had he not noticed it before?

He looked back at Shiki, noticing that she had stopped trying to apologize. She was looking down, her eyes sad. Had his lack of response hurt her? He didn't want that! Neku took a deep breath and closed his eyes, readying himself.

Shiki was sad, wondering why she had been so stupid. Why couldn't she have noticed what she had done? She sighed, preparing herself to have to awkwardly watch Neku leave.

She felt the cushions right beside her dip, and she looked up, her eyes widening. Neku was looking right at her, one arm behind his back.

"I'm really s-" she started to say, before he cut her off.

"It's fine," he said, before he blushed slightly. "I...have something for you..."

Neku took a deep breath, taking the box from behind his back and holding it out for her. Her eyes widened, taking the box of chocolates, before looking up at him. He looked to the side.

"Thank you, Neku!" Shiki said, a smile lighting her face up. She leaned forward and quickly pecked his cheek, completely forgetting that she was sick as she giggled at his red face. She then yawned, her sudden tiredness reminding her that she was sick. She leaned against Neku, her eyes closing as she dozed off. Neku's surprised look melted, and he smiled at the girl, wrapping his arm around her. He noticed Mr. Misaki looking at him from the kitchen. But, before he could panic, the older man gave him an approving smile, before walking away.

Neku sighed, looking at the sleeping girl. Slowly, he closed his eyes also, his tired mind thinking one thing:

'Eri...I'm sorry for ever doubting your damn over-bubbly judgement...'

And scene! The ending was kind of abrupt, but I've been writing this for the longest time. My internet would keep crashing, so I'd have to rewrite it! I'm finally done!

Ok, I didn't exactly know what to have Neku think, so that came out. Poor Neku. And Eri is like psychic in this! :D

Well, it's done! Dedicated to all of my favorite TWEWY fanfic authors out there! And to all my readers!

Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you can!