"Screw this kid," Shiki thought to herself. "Screw him and his stupid fucking orange hair and his holier-than-thou attitude, it stinks, the whole lot of it." In reality, she had nobody to blame but herself for forging a pact with Neku. Panic and desperation had gotten the better of her in a vulnerable moment, and hell, it wasn't like she couldn't have kept running for a while longer... found somebody stronger, more outgoing, more communicative, which was important... As much as she hated to admit it she didn't think she'd get anyone better looking, but Eri had always said her taste in guys was a little strange. This neon-coloured emo kid had no right to look as effortlessly cute as he did. In fact, considering that he was trying to push people away, he had pulled her in with no problem. She saw him and more or less thought "Ooooh, shiny!" Before jumping him with the idea of a pact. But then, she could hardly leave him to fend for himself, as good as he was with pins, he was even more of a beanpole than her, looking like he'd fall over in a weak wind. Of course, she never voiced these aggressive and antagonistic thoughts to him, choosing to plead instead, like the good little girl she was. They were under a bridge somewhere in the dark side of Shibuya you only went when you were well and truly alone in the world, and not a single living soul was there.
"Please, Neku. We can't get through this if we don't work as a team!" She called out, his back turned on her. "You heard what Mr H. said. Open up to me! Communicate!" She was more or less begging him now. She waited in silence for his response, when, about 5 seconds later... He gave his pathetic little sigh and cocked his head downwards. That was all she got. No more. She couldn't take his stupid bullshit. "Fuck... you." She said simply, having to take a moment to breathe, she was almost crying. "I am trying. More than anyone I have ever known, I am trying to help you, to be your friend. And it isn't just because I'm stuck with you, no. It's because I'm idiotic and vapid enough to think that even you, with your stupidly big headphones and your stupid baggy shorts and your frown that never changes... You can't even answer me!" He was unresponsive even as she was slowly breaking into tears. "You can't tell me why you don't like me! Why the hell you have to be so antisocial... Just, what the hell are you trying to prove, Neku!? Huh?" She propped herself against the wall, trying to dry her tears. It was pretty obvious that he was an impenetrable fortress of hardassery, not caring one bit, not even moving. Except he had moved. He was looking at her now, and he wasn't frowning... He wasn't wearing much of an expression on his face, but his mouth wasn't creased downwards as it normally was. It was just plain. Without being too unkind, his face didn't look like it was used to anything other than sadness and abject disapproval. "I.." She perked up a little, still sniffling and holding back more tears. He had spoken? OK, not even a full word, but he made a noise. "I... Miss Misaki, I need you to stop crying." His voice was quivering. For Shiki, it was just too much to take in. Was he nervous? Did he just call her Miss? And... use her second name? Rather than Stalker? God, he had changed. So she turned her head, still propping herself up, and looked him in the eye. It was hardly the greatest of sights. Her makeup was running, and her crying was hardly like you'd see in an anime, it made her face puffy and damp. "What did you just say to me?" She asked, not questioning what he said, more just wanting to make sure he actually said something and it wasn't her imagination. He looked taken aback by this, like she had shocked him. "I-I'm sorry..." He quivered quietly. "I'm not used to someone showing... That much... um, emotion..." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, he knew he had screwed up. "I..." He swallowed, and his face was now a mess of all the emotions he was holding back, coming up in one go. It was... untidy. "I am so scared, Shiki! I'm worried! Things don't work out when I'm around other people, they go wrong! And we're playing some stupid game, and we're going to die if we make one mistake, or if somebody else does, and... ARGGHHH!" He bashed his head off the hard concrete of the bridge, which proved to be a bad call as it seriously hurt him. "Crapcrapcrap..." He sat himself down on the pavement, head in his hands. As Shiki came towards him, he held a hand up to stop her. "Don't-Don't bother with me." He swallowed, he was having difficulty speaking after nearly knocking himself out. He tried to stand, but it wasn't really working. Shiki's face had changed from one of sadness and disgust to one of care and concern. She spoke up. "I think you should rest for a while. We don't need to worry about the mission yet. I'm sorry... I thought you were just being heartless. I didn't mean to scare you..."
He shook his head. "You didn't. But you are trying too hard." He said, his voice still low and quiet, but not carrying the same tone of stay-the-hell-away-from-me he'd been projecting for a while now. "I'll help you. I'll go through this game with you, but not because I want to live. It's because I think you deserve a second chance. If you're going to try and help me, then you didn't deserve whatever happened to you that killed you." He made a weak attempt at a smile...but it hardly did his face a service. "Th-Thank you..." He choked out, now able to stand again. Shiki was... taken aback, to say the least. He had spilled his heart out to her, and made a pledge to do something selfless for her. "You... mean it?" She was exhausted. She collapsed against him. Neku, being totally unfamiliar with human physical contact, was so shocked that it took him a moment before he realised he should probably hold her. So he put his arms around her and just held her for a while, no speaking, no thoughts, nothing. "She's warm." He thought to himself. "It isn't so bad." It wasn't out of love... well, not that they knew of, but it was nice. They both needed someone to take care of them, maybe what they had now would work, at least for the week. Then, the first raindrops started to appear. "Huh." Neku thought. "How often does it rain in Shibuya?" He considered his memories, or what remained of them, for a moment, before looking down at the girl in his arms, who just seemed happy to be warm. Then he said to himself.
"Doesn't matter."