~Blood-Splattered Headphones; The Tale of Sakuraba Neku~

Neku stared at the scar in the mirror. Unlike the one on his chest, this bullet wound was well hidden by his hair. He wondered morbidly if the bullets were still lodged in his brain and heart underneath those scars, or if Joshua had removed them when he had been brought back to life. Why remove the bullets but not the scars?

Neku sighed and allowed his hair to cover the wound once more. Those scars were at once a reminder of the horrible things that Joshua had done to him and the beautiful changes those things had caused.

Always feeling worried that someone might see the scar on his chest, Neku quickly pulled on his shirt and exited the bathroom. He walked across the hall to his room, snatching his headphones off the bed, trying to ignore the bloodstains on one side as he put them on. His mom had questioned him about that, and he had told her it was just some decoration—paint splatter, you know? She had given him an odd look but had said nothing more. She had been a lot more forgiving of him since he had returned from being "missing" for three weeks. That's how Joshua had arranged it—everyone who knew them had their memories changed, so that those who had survived the hideously long Reaper's Game came back to a world in which no one knew of their death.

Shaking his head to fend off the random torrent of memories, Neku walked downstairs.

"I'm going to meet my friends!" Neku called.

"Okay! Please don't stay out too long." His mother called back. There was still that trace of worry; she thought Neku would "run away" again. Don't worry Mom. I won't run away before my time. I've had enough of it to last forever. He turned back towards the front door and stepped out.

Neku hit play on his MP3 player and started walking. A morbid curiosity was pulling him towards the graveyard. It had been for weeks, until he had ultimately decided to indulge it. He wanted to see if there remained a marker of his death. He walked through the streets solemnly, several times wanting to turn around and walk away. But all he could do was keep moving forward, drawing ever closer.

He hesitated at the gate. He did a quick glance around, concerned momentarily that one of the caretakers might "recognize" him, then realized the idea was ridiculous. He slowly stepped inside the gate, beginning his walk through the rows upon rows of graves.

As Neku came upon a grave, he paused, noticing the wilted chrysanthemums sitting at its foot. Now who would leave flowers to wilt on a grave? He stepped closer, nervously examining the marker. There in the stone, it was plainly carved: "Sakuraba Neku". Underneath was a brief few sentences about him—well, the past him, anyway. He read through them quickly, reminding himself to breathe. He crouched down, thinking about how cruel it must have been for his parents; that their only son had been taken from them at only fifteen years of age. And a son who never truly recovered from his one friend's death. Neku briefly wondered if they knew he had been murdered. Joshua had probably arranged it to seem like a suicide. Neku thought darkly, almost chuckling from the sheer pain of the thought. How his parents must have wept.

He reached out suddenly, fingers brushing against the delicate stems of those death flowers. It was probably my mother who put these here. Neku considered sadly. He took hold of the flowers, gingerly picking them up from the ground, and paying his last respects to his old self, solemnly walked away.

Neku walked back in the direction of the main part of Shibuya, aiming towards Hachiko. He met Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme there every Saturday, in memory of the first day of their game. Neku had something of a fantasy that Joshua might one day find the tiniest bit of compassion he had and would show up there, as well. Surely he knew that they met there? How could he not?

He carefully cradled the flowers in his arms as he walked, so as not to allow the crowds to crush them. He arrived to the statue seemingly early; none of his friends had yet arrived. He sat down on one of the benches, pulling out his phone. There was a new text message there.

Sorry Neku, I'm going to be a bit late! Eri and I are just finishing up a new design. I promise I'll hurry!

That one was obviously from Shiki. Neku didn't really mind if she was late, as long as she did show up. Just then, his phone beeped and another message arrived.

Yo, looks like I'm running behind. My folks got me doin' all kinds a chores an' stuff. I'll hurry so me an' Rhyme can come meet you!

Couldn't mistake that style; that one was from Beat. Neku sent a couple of quick messages back to them assuring them that he'd wait and that it wasn't any trouble.

Well, Neku sighed, looks like I've got some time to kill. He stood up and began walking back towards the Scramble, weaving his way through groups of random passerby. He ended up in front of 104, staring up at the red letters that adorned the top. He couldn't help but laugh at the memory of this place where he learned his first lessons about fashion from Shiki. She had been so excited to teach him.

As he was glancing up, he noticed a figure standing at the edge of the roof. His eyes widened.

They're going to jump! He realized with a lurch. He jerked forward, starting into a run, but then stopped dead in his tracks. Is it…? Neku dared to wonder. He raised his hand tentatively, waving at the boy standing at the edge. There was a strained pause. People were staring at him. Finally, the boy on the roof raised his hand and waved delicately. It is! Neku smiled widely and ran forward into the building. A wild mix of emotions swirled inside him, but he tried to ignore them as he used his friendship with the shopkeepers to gain access to the roof.

As soon as he opened the hatch, he saw the grey hair. There he was, staring down at his city, sitting with his feet dangling over the edge. Neku walked forward carefully, his awareness of the height of the building and the boy sitting at its edge forcing him to take his time.

"It's good to see you, Neku." Joshua said quietly. Neku almost didn't hear him.

"Where did you go Joshua?" Neku cut right to the chase. He glanced around while he spoke, finally having come up behind the grey-haired boy. Joshua glanced up at him.

"Right here." He nodded off to his right. Neku followed his gaze and realized he could see Hachiko perfectly from here. Neku almost punched him.

"So you're telling me that all this time, instead of actually showing up, you just sat here and watched me wait for you?" Neku's voice did nothing to mask his irritation.

"Don't be cruel to me, Neku. I… I couldn't face you. Not after what I did." He responded solemnly. Neku scoffed.

"Like that's stopped you before. I know you heard me when I told you that I wanted you to come. What you did was wrong; hell, it was about the worst thing you could have done to me, but I know that you didn't understand it at the time. You thought I hated life as much as you did." Joshua bristled at the reminder. "If I can live with what you did, you sure as hell can too. Well, you can be dead with the knowledge anyway." Neku sat down, but kept his legs well away from the edge. Joshua managed his characteristic smirk.

"I guess you really do trust me, hmm? You're making it so easy for me to push you off." Neku stared at him a moment, realizing this must be Joshua's way of breaking the ice. He chuckled.

"Don't go getting any ideas. You kill me again and I swear I'll pull the trigger next time." Matching Joshua's dark humour hurt Neku some, as those memories were still a little too fresh, but he brushed it off and continued to smile. Joshua looked pointedly at the flowers in Neku's hands.

"Are those…?" He stopped short, giving a small giggle and shake of his head. "Only you would think to take them." Joshua smirked.

"Heh, I guess so, huh? I don't even know what I'm going to do with them. I just… wanted to take them, I guess. One of the few pieces of evidence left that I actually did die." Neku stared at the flowers in his hands. After a moment, he picked out the most wilted one he could find.

"Here." Neku said, offering the flower. Joshua glanced at it with an eyebrow raised.

"What's this? A token to remember you by? How romantic!" Neku rolled his eyes. He had been beginning to wonder where that classic sarcasm had gone.

"Something like that. I want you to keep it to remember that no matter that you killed me twice, and no matter that I can't forgive you for it, you changed the wilted flower into a beautiful blossoming one. So… thank you." Joshua accepted the flower, staring with an odd expression at Neku. Neku stood up to leave, and took a few steps.

"Neku! …wait." Neku turned around, and saw that Joshua was staring solemnly at the flower in his hand. "I'm… I'm sorry that… that I killed you." Neku couldn't believe his ears. "But I'm glad that it has brought something good for you. For both of us."

"Both of us?"

"I… I was the same as you. In my mind, Shibuya was a city teeming with worthless and ignorant people. My mind refused to see the lights shining within it. After that second week, I knew that I couldn't destroy it. I saw that you had learned from your mistakes, and I realized that I should learn from my own. That final game… I rigged it so that no matter what happened, Shibuya would be safe. I knew I would defeat Kitaniji, and I knew it would come down to us." Joshua paused. "I… had hoped… that you would pull the trigger."

Neku stared wide-eyed at the boy who still refused to look at him.

"But… but why? You must've known I wouldn't do it!" Joshua nodded slowly.

"Yes, I did. I do have a certain level of omniscience after all. But sometimes, when a bright soul appears, it finds ways to surprise even me. I had hoped that your anger would drive you to shoot, so I could leave Shibuya in your capable hands. I knew you would love it more than I had."

"Bullshit." Joshua turned sharply. "You love your city. You may have felt the want to abandon it when it strayed from the path you had chosen for it, but you loved this city the whole time. You couldn't stand the thought of allowing it to die, but you knew it had to be done."

"A coup de grâce of some sort, I suppose." Joshua added. Neku nodded solemnly.

"I couldn't do your job. You have to keep doing it. This city deserves someone who is willing to save it, whatever the cost." Joshua smiled softly.

"Perhaps you're right, Neku. Sharp as always, I see."

"You better show up next week. Or I promise I'll come and smoke you out of the sewers myself." Neku started walking back toward the hatch back into the building. "Oh," Neku said over his shoulder. "And don't you dare lose that." With that, he opened the hatch and walked down the stairs, quickly leaving the grey-haired boy alone.