A/N:
Contains: Fluff. angst. Reincarnation. JoshNeku. Autistic!Josh. Agender!Rhyme (mentioned). Occasional non-verbal Josh. Josh has a huge crush
Warnings: Brief mentions of ABA therapy and suicide. Smatterings of ableism.
Formatting-
Italics (in big chunks): flashback
texts are sent inside ^these things^, and when italicized are texts from the other person in the conversation
sign language is put inside [brackets] and are italicized
As for setting, time should technically be in futuristic Japan, but I do not have experience with that setting, so while it's still in Shibuya and stuff, the setting still feels like 2016, and it's more Americanized (especially in reference to the school system).
And thank you so much for reading my fic I would love to get comments and reviews and feedback please! You aren't bothering me!
Fallen Angels were always tough to fight, he'd faced off against them a few times before, but this one was the worst so far. The smell of Taboo hung thick in the air, smoke clouding the Room of Reckoning, as Joshua stared down his opponent. He stood tall, form shimmering, wisping away from the excess of power. The Fallen stuck to summoning Taboo Noise, throwing the beings at the Composer, while he dodged out of the way of the attacks and hurled his beams of energy at the Noise, vaporizing them on the spot.
At the far end of the room, the Fallen in between Joshua and this newcomer, someone with bright orange hair and purple headphones walked into the room, freezing up at the sight of the battle.
Joshua flung himself in between Neku and the Fallen, with no time to spare for any other sort of shield.
Joshua bolted upright in bed, holding his head as it throbbed. This was the third time in a week that he'd woken up from a nightmare like this, and looking back on his life, it'd happened more times than he could count. He never did remember what was in the nightmare, only that he was panicking at the end of it, trying to stop something, trying to save someone.
He lays in bed, taking deep breaths to relax and calm down so he could go back to sleep. It doesn't work. After two hours his alarm goes off, and he sighs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he turns it off.
Groaning, he walks into the kitchen downstairs, stealing some pancakes and a cup of coffee before sitting at the table. He's halfway through his second pancake when the door leading to the shop-front opens, and his guardian (your dad, a voice in the back of his mind says, he shoves that to the side, because even after seven years, it still sounds weird) steps in.
"...You stole pancakes again? Seriously? You begged me to get you cereal like a week ago, and you haven't touched it!"
He grins up at Hanekoma, stifling a yawn. "You left the pancakes out, you knew this would happen if you left them out for me to grab. 'Sides, I had another bad dream, and there's nothing like comfort food to help out with that."
His dad Hanekoma plops down in the chair across from him, sighing. "Another nightmare, huh? Still can't remember what it's about?"
He shakes his head, eating some more pancake before replying. "Nope, not really. All I can remember are residual feelings. Like, I'm doing something, and I'm tired and worn out from whatever it is, then suddenly there's this huge feeling of fear and panic and I wake up."
"Same as usual then, huh? Well, no use dwelling on it, that'd just make your day worse. Ya gotta-"
"Enjoy the moment," Josh interrupts, in between bites. "I know. You say that to me like, three times a day, every day."
Hanekoma laughs. "Well now, someone's feeling like a smarty-mouth today. Ya might wanna finish up quick, or you'll have to run to school, Josh."
Josh groans, taking a few big bites, before putting his dishes in the sink and grabbing his backpack from by the couch, tossing the lunch he'd prepared the night before into it. As he's on his way out, he grabs another coffee, this time in a to-go cup, for his friend.
Dashing out the door, he looks around, and sighs when he sees people wearing Player Pins, one of the telltale signs that it's a Game week. He makes a mental note to dig up some pins from his own collection and toss them at the Players, they could use all the help they could get.
When he gets to Towa Records, Josh glances around for his friend, grinning when he spots the bright orange hair. He jogs up to the other boy, waving a hand at him.
"Neku!" he shouts, to get his attention.
When Neku hears him, he turns from browsing the new releases, waving back. "Hey Josh!"
"It's been so long since I've seen you, the days have stretched on and on as I awaited my next chance to gaze upon your face. Also I snagged you a coffee!" he says, handing the cup over.
Neku took the cup and chuckled. "It's been like, two days, chill. You saw me on Friday. Thanks for the coffee though, gonna need it if I wanna stay awake for my math test."
Josh elbows him in the side, as they start walking to Josh's school. "Hey, you know me, being overdramatic is my pastime. Besides, we usually hang out on the weekends, so I missed getting to see you."
"Ain't my fault my dad demanded I go on a weekend trip with him. If you're so desperate to make up for the lost time though, we could go to Ramen Don after classes and chill. Maybe that chef you like will be there." Neku elbows him back, grinning.
"Dude, he's like, twice our age, so no. Besides, I've known him since I was like, eight, that'd be weird!" Once more an elbow met with Neku's side.
"Hey, you're the one that said he was cute last month. I mean, I agree that he's cute, but you're the one that said it." Neku elbows him again.
"Okay yeah, he's cute, but still, just no. Besides, I like someone else." He doesn't elbow Neku back this time, blushing and looking away.
"Oh? You gonna tell me who your mystery crush is this time?" Neku raises an eyebrow, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Not at all! I'll tell you someday maybe, but for now… I'd rather not." He doesn't look back up at Neku, hoping his face isn't as red as it feels.
"It's alright dude. It's private, I know, but if ya ever want to talk about this person, I'm all ears."
"I know, I know. I just… It'd be weird, talking about the person, honestly, it's a lot easier for me to not talk about them, because if I do, I'm just gonna want to tell them even more, and I'm not a fan of the idea of being rejected. Slim chance they won't, but I don't wanna risk it." Josh sighs, playing with the black spinny ring on his middle right finger, finding comfort in the motion.
"Well, don't be too hard on yourself, dude. I don't see why anyone would turn you down, when you're such a great person." When Josh looks over at Neku, he sees a wide smile, and gives a small one back. Seeing Neku's face like that lights up his day, and he swears he can feel the warmth of the sun on his skin a bit more.
As they walked and talked, a few pairs of Players would occasionally dash by, sprinting away from Noise or to find the next clue for their mission. Josh thought he'd been doing a good job of keeping his attention focused on Neku and not on the Game, but he jumps when Neku speaks up, having been eyeing a battle going on.
"You seem a bit out of it today. Is it that Game you talk about sometimes, that you can see?"
Josh blinks, nodding and looking back at Neku, as the Players defeat the Noise. "Yeah, looks like it's the start of a new Game week, lots of people dashing around today, lots of battles taking place."
"Well, if ya need to chat about something you see, you can tell me. I might not know as much as Mr. Hanekoma, but I'll always be here for you."
"Mm, I know… Thanks again, by the way, for believing me when I talk about it all…" Josh sighs, rubbing his face. "Most people, if told about a Game where people who've died fight to come back to life, would probably freak out and tell me I need to be on meds, or institutionalized."
Neku frowns. "Even if you didn't have Mr. Hanekoma backing you up on all this, even if what you see wasn't actually real, those people would be wrong. Meds maybe, if there's some sort of chemical imbalance in your brain causing it, but that idea of locking all the crazy people up," he uses his free hand to make air quotes, "should really be a thing of the past by now, and it's a testament to how annoying humans can be that it's not."
"Indeed it is. I mean, you'd think stigma about all this would be gone by now, but nooo." He throws his arms open wide, spinning in a wide circle. "Just look around, there's probably a good few assholes in this crowd right now. Can't tell until they open their mouth to speak, but they're there."
At Josh's antics, Neku chuckles, nodding. "Best we can do right now is try to avoid them, and get to school on time."
"Yeah, true. Right now I'm wishin' Hanekoma would let me skip a bit more though, but even if he did, disrupted sleep is too common for me to use as an excuse."
"Strange and mysterious nightmare again?" Neku asks, frowning. "The one you never remember any details of, and puts you into a panic when you wake?"
Josh nods. "Yeah, that one. Couldn't get a wink of sleep after I woke up, and I'd already stayed up late studying for my science test today."
"Mm, wish I could help ya, but I don't know any remedy for nightmares, unfortunately. When it happens again though, just remember, you can always text me. I don't mind getting woken up to chat with you." Neku reaches out and grabs Josh's hand, giving him a small smile.
"Thanks, dude. I might have to take you up on that offer." He squeezes Neku's hand, before sighing as they come to the front doors of the school. "And now, unfortunately, we must part ways. The greatest tragedy of my life is right here, and it's the fact that you still don't go to my school."
Neku laughs. "Hey, don't blame me, not like I have a choice in the matter. See you at lunch though, yeah?"
"Sounds like a plan. I swear, one of these days though, you're gonna get caught sneaking into my school and out of yours, so be safe. I'd hate for you to get detention just for my sake."
"Nah, I'm good at sneaking, I won't get caught! You'd better get goin' though, your classes start in like, five minutes." Neku smiles and waves goodbye as Josh dashes into the building, giving a quick wave himself as he tries not to be late.