Day: 5
"Hey Neku…wake up! Come on...we're gonna get our next mission and you better be awake to see it!!"
God, was I ever tired. With this sick…game I'm forced to play, a good night sleep is way past my reach…
"Ughh…cut it out Shiki! I'm up, alright?? What are you so goddamn frantic about? The mission isn't even here yet!"
"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" Her voice dripped sarcasm. "You snore like an elephant, by the way".
"Look…just leave me alone. Ever since I came into the Game, I haven't been able to sleep well at all."
This was the truth, not just me getting her off my back.
Another truth about this game is that it's changed me. I don't know how it started or why, but I really am trying to…like people.
I'm a lone wolf…it's all I've ever known. But this game…I don't know. It DOES something to you. It messes with your brain.
I've always thought that trust was a lie. Just another route to an early grave. I don't have an option now. I have to trust my partner, no matter how much I'd rather…blind my self with a spoon..hah….whatever. Well, in any case, this brings me to Shiki. This girl is truly whacked; annoying as hell, whiney like no other…a total case. Yet, I've found she's different from the people I've known. So much so that I'm gonna give her a chance…
"EARTH TO NEKU! You in there??"
"Hunnn? Oh yea…sure…"
As I said this, my phone started to buzz lightly with a beeping noise.
"What does it say?"
Reach the AMX building…
You have 5 minutes. Fail, and face erasure.
- The Reapers
"That's pretty strange for a miss-"
"What?? AMX? We're all the way on Cat Street!! There's NO way to make it in five minutes!!"
"SHIKI! Come on, relax…ugghh…I can't believe I'm even saying this but…..get on my back…"
"Your WHAT?? B-b-b-but that'll slow you down a t-ton! I couldn't possibly!"
God, she was blushing like crazy…but I guess I must have been too. Why did I even think of this??
"Look. The only way we're gonna get there in time is this. You're pretty slow…at least slower than me…and you also couldn't possibly run in that… skirt your wearing…" Damn and I though I couldn't get any redder…
"Fine. But we really need to hurry our asses down there!"
"Well?? Then get on, dammit!!"
"Oh…uhhh..right…sorry"
I gently lifted her off the ground and then I was off! I was sprinting like a mad man. I don't remember ever running this fast…didn't even think I could. It didn't help that Shiki was giving my neck a definite death grip. At least she weighted close to nothing.
"NEKU!! I KNOW IT SEEMS LIKE I'M SCARED CUS OF THE GRIP AND ALL, BUT THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!! SO EXILATING!" she giggled all of this, by the way…Well at least one of us is having fun, I thought.
"SHIKI!! WOULD YOU QUITE SCREAMIN' IN MY GODDAMN EAR??" I couldn't help but laugh a little, too.
"Silly, you're screaming too!"
She said this at noise level only meant for me…right into my ear, mind you. I stumbled a bit at this, but regained my composer.
"ALMOST THERE, NOW…JUST A COUPLE MORE BLOCKS!" she screamed despite my efforts.
Heaving and panting, I finally made it. We made there, both intact. Maybe she seemed light at first, but running with a crazy girl on your back is no walk through the park.
"Hey Shiki?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you please...get off?"
"Oops! Sorry, Neku", she said softly.
"Hey Neku, my watch says we made it in under 3 minutes…maybe we miscalculated the distances…" she trailed off.
"What? seriously?"
"Yea…hmm…maybe my watch is broken?" she said more to herself than to me.
All that running for nothing? We could of walked there with time to spare!! These fucking reapers…the missions were rigged…the enjoyed this…toying with people. Making our lives, well, afterlives a living…dead? HELL!!
"GODDAMNIT!! If I don't kill the reapers, their fucking game is gonna kill us first!!"
"Neku?? What's wrong?
"Here I am!! Sweating like a pig after hauling you halfway across the city, and it turns out it wasn't even that far at all!!"
"ummmm…."
"Sorry Shiki, it's just that the Game is really starting to rattle me…it's nothing…"
"I know that must of sucked for you, Neku…but I thought it was really fun! I mean, you even seemed like that didn't completely ruin your day…well, until now at least. Maybe YOU even had fun! I don't know. But Neku…you seem really bothered by something…and I don't think it's about the game."
What?? That caught me off guard for a second…hopefully it didn't show on my face. How could she tell that I've been thinking about these…painful memories that she would never…that no one would ever understand.
"I can see it in your eyes, Neku, that something's not right. I just want you to know that you can talk to me if you want…I'll always listen."
I mustered up the darkest look I could give her and said this: "And why would I tell YOU!? I thought you were different but you're probably just like everyone else…acting sympathetic but never actually looking out for anyone but yourself. THE WORLD IS ALL THE SAME! You'd never understand me…no one would…no one can…"
She looked terrified…utterly horrified. HAH…smooth, Neku…good going.
"I'm s-sorry you feel that way", she said in close to a whisper before she ran off, tears obviously streaming from her eyes.
With all the venom I could gather, I mumbled to myself: "I hate this goddamn game…"