Inspired by the song "You're Not Sorry" by Taylor Swift. Was going to be a songfic, but it... totally went a different direction. x3 The last line is part of the song's lyrics. Just a little Neku/Joshua drabble... okay so it's kind of depressing and Neku/Joshua doesn't... actually really happen, but hey. I really write too much of this kind of stuff. XD This is a bit weird, and not really explained much, but... just go with it. Hope you enjoy, please review. 3
Sorry to anyone wanting me to update my other stuff, I will soon~
XXX
Every day, every single day, Neku would walk past Hachiko. Looking. Some days, perhaps once a week... he would sit on a bench, a certain bench opposite the statue, and wait for a while. Usually though he would only make sure his daily schedule would include a diversion across the Scramble to it, and then once he knew he wasn't there, he'd stop as if having forgotten something, and turn back. Just a little detour to keep up his record. A month or so into this routine however, he realised most days he went out solely to go to Hachiko. Not a detour anymore. Though even when he noticed, he still didn't stop.
Half a year went. Half a year of opportunities - opportunities for him to come, opportunites for Neku to turn away before he reached Hachiko. Half a year back at school, that mundane place where he was still alone, waiting for the bell to ring so he could meet his friends. He could have suggested meeting at Hachiko, but he never did. Nobody knew about his daily visit.
Clocks spun. Neku left with numb hands once the snow started, cold ears and wet hair. Maybe once a year had passed, he should stop, he thought to himself - sitting on his bench, not feeling it under him. It was getting a little silly now. Might as well have made a New Year's resolution out of it, for all the good that decision did. That had passed long ago: "Why are you going outside on Christmas Day, son?" Why was he leaving the house, well, he was going to post a letter of well wishing to his friend... and his mother had believed him. If only she'd stopped him then, it could be all over. Weren't you supposed to rely on family?
Neku raised his arm, checking his watch. The date... that far through the year already. Nearly four hundred days. Four hundred visits to Hachiko, four hundred incidents of wasted time he'd never get back. "Your turn!" came the man's cheerful cry, and Neku stepped forward, holding up his hand to touch this year's designated area. Palm flat, fingers outstretched, against the statue's metal fur, just where the dog's heart would be.
"Wish me luck, boy," he whispered, then stepped down to clear the path for the rest of the queue. Hachiko would always be waiting, so loyally. But Neku wouldn't be waiting anymore. And so he turned around, grinning at Shiki's happy expression as he joined his friends, and together the four of them went on their way, feeling lucky, feeling... happy. He hadn't been wasting his time at all. He'd learnt something.
Could've loved him all his life, if he hadn't left him waiting in the cold.