A/N. Everyone who enjoys the following fanfiction needs to go buy a ticket to Sherlock Holmes right now. xD That story is the sole inspiration for this. I thought it up on the way home. ^^;; But, yes this whole little thing is dedicated all the awesome folks on the Joshyme's Hachiko Forum- Angel, J, Chris, JF, Cshelll, Silvie, Beat, and everyone else whose names I can't remember. xD;;

NOTE: Contains endgame spoilers, dark themes, and some, um... making out. But it's not that bad, so.... this note is entirely useless. Poor thing. Let's call it Steve. ...Steve is done.

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Addiction

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The air outside the hall was cold, and grey, and spoke of winter. It had no resemblance to the air inside the apartment hall, where two collage students were currently absorbed in a very practical application of the principles of biology. Or perhaps chemistry. Anyway.

Neku, however, was thinking of neither chemistry nor biology or anything other than Shiki's lips on his, and her hands playing with his shirt collar, and his hands desperately fumbling to get the door of his apartment open before his longtime girlfriend relieved him of his clothes and sanity in the hallway. Not that he minded, but he was pretty sure there was some clause above doing such things outside of his room in the fine print of the lease.

He broke free of her contact, only to drag his lips along her collar bone as the door behind him succumbed to his key. His partner sighed, shivered, then was drug inside as Neku pinned her to the wall and resumed his attentions, albeit with less restraint.

Suddenly, he broke away again, and shot a furious blue glare at the small couch behind him.

"Do you mind?" he hissed, and the figure on the couch shifted so it was facing him better.

"Not at all," the pale-haired boy noted. "Please, continue. You seem to be enjoying yourself."

Neku gritted his teeth and pulled Shiki behind him as Shibuya's Composer stood and dusted something off the fashionable rusty plaid button-fronted coat. "What do you want, Joshua?"

Joshua did not answer, and continued fiddling with his appearance, staring at his 19 year old face in the shine of the glass-topped coffee table. "Dear me, Neku, you're going to catch your death of cold in such light, plain clothes." He raised his gaze, a faint smirk visible in his violet eyes as he continued on in a serious tone. "It is the dead of winter."

"We're inside, and will you just answer me?"

The windows suddenly mysteriously opened, and the chill city air filled the apartment as Joshua idly toyed with his phone. "What was that, Neku?"

The teenager snorted furiously through his nose, and made for the door only to hear it lock with a rather sickening click. The windows closed again, and Joshua sighed as he sank back down onto the furniture.

"All right. No more parlor tricks, I promise. ...I have... " Joshua's law tightened and he seemed to choke on his words for a moment as Neku sighed and leaned against the wall, still protectively close to Shiki.

"...You have...?"

Joshua looked away, and waved his hand as he started afresh. "It's about Rhyme," he admitted, and Shiki sighed, leaning against her boyfriend. Neku remarked scornfully, "Finally come to terms with her leaving? I'm just surprised she didn't say something sooner, after all you put her through."

Joshua shot Neku a glare that could have melted rock, then he looked away again, a negative air like a black hole surrounding him, its darkness almost tangible. "She won't enter the city anymore. I haven't seen her for two weeks."

"Can you blame her?" Shiki spoke at last, her voice soft but firm. "Joshua, you gave her nightmares for seven months, and that's not even scratching the surface."

The black hole widened, as Joshua let out a grating breath- exercising restraint, shockingly. "I need you to get her to come back. I need to talk to her."

"No."

Shiki winced, as the black hole became totally tangible and Joshua stood to face Neku. "No?" His voice was icy and dangerous as only one who wields incredible power can assume.

"No," Neku repeated, unfazed. "I'm not going to deliver Rhyme back into your heartless hands until you realize something."

"What?"

"That's she's a human being."

Joshua snorted, and the darkness vanished. "I know that, and very well, " he taunted, smirking. "So go tell her to come back."

"As long as you keep up with that mentality, you don't get it." Neku shook his head. "And if you don't get it, then, you don't deserve her."

Joshua's head snapped around, and his eyes narrowed in fury. Shiki tightened her grip on Neku's arm, but to no end. The Composer simply vanished, and the air gradually lost its supernatural cold.

The orange-haired young man rolled his head against the wall. "It's a miracle she lasted this long," he sighed, almost as protective of the blonde philanthropist as her older brother. Shiki laid her head against Neku's chest. "I know. I hope she doesn't run into him again."

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There was an old saying. 'Nothing hurts as much as the truth.' Perhaps that was what was making water spring to Joshua's eyes as he resumed human form and tramped along the sidewalk, tiny bits of ice peppering his cheeks as the wind lashed his hair around.

He had been cruel to her, perhaps, but he couldn't help it. It was his nature to push people to their limits, a sort of sadistic curiosity of how far he could bend them until they broke. Neku had taken three weeks. Rhyme had taken three years.

Rhyme was an optimist, an idealist, convinced that there was enough good in the world for it to be worth trying to improve. He had done his best to steer the very worst characters in his city in her direction- which had led to a couple attempted rapes, several dozen carjackings, and even a good old fashioned stalk-and-kidnap. All of which he had saved her from, naturally, in the name of the experiment.

But after all this, she still insisted on compassion and mercy, even going so far as to accuse Joshua of such foolish sentiments as caring about her enough to save her. Ridiculous, really, and he had happily devoted the past years alternately putting her in danger and pulling her out of it until at last he had taken it too far and directly attacked her with Noise.

He remembered those nights- her muffled screams as her Soul was ripped to pieces, and he had stood back and observed, letting the savage beasts do their worst for several months, right until she had attempted to kill herself.

Joshua closed his eyes as the scene played out in his head, disgustingly clear;

'Rhyme's fingers were clenched in a death grip around the handle of the knife, her chest racked with strangled sobs as she pressed the blade to her wrist. "Is this what you want, Joshua, " she pleaded, her teeth almost chattering together as her body quivered on the edge of shock. "Do you want me to just die? Will you leave me alone then?"

"Certainly not. If you die, your Soul still would belong to me," he noted, leaning against the air wall with an air of bored distaste. "I want you to understand, Miss Bito."'

Amidst all the clatter of shoes on the pavement, of the mindless droning of voices, of the faint swishing of clothes and all the empty sounds that a crowd makes, the pale boy froze at a single, halting, step.

'"Understand?" she choked, raising those watery blue eyes to stare at him with broken bewilderment. "Understand what? That you're a horrible person?"'

In the middle of the intersection, at the very boundary that marked the edge of Joshua's power, stood a girl, staring into the sky and watching the snow fall gently down.

'Rhyme drew in a breath. "If that's what you want me to understand, I may as well die. I won't believe it, because I believe in you!"

The girl still lay quivering on the floor as her tormentor sighed. "Do you? That's such a pity. But I suppose, after all I've put you through, it's no surprise you've become delusional."'

That morning, Joshua remembered, Rhyme had told her brother everything. Five minutes later, they were on a train to Yokohama, gone without a trace or any intention of returning. Or so he had thought- and there she was, watching a commercial play on the giant screen of 104.

He stepped forward- and rather quickly, too. He couldn't help it.

At the sound of his footsteps, Rhyme turned, and the tiny trace of color that had graced those sunken cheeks from the cold vanished. For her credit, however, she forced a smile and held her ground.

"Joshua. Hello."

The sensation of the barrier was like walking into a wall of fishhooks, all dragging him backward with irresistible force and Soul-searing pain. "Rhyme," he replied, only able to dip his head without taking a step back. "I was hoping to see you."

Something like hope followed by panic, then sadness flashed in Rhyme's eyes, though she didn't budge as Joshua's breath fanned over her. She didn't say anything, either, and Joshua hesitated.

"When are you coming back to Shibuya?" he settled for at last, stalling for time with a question he already knew the bitter answer to. The girl didn't buy it for a moment.

"I'm not. I came to say goodbye."

This took him by surprise. "Why would you do that?" he mumbled, suddenly feeling foolish. It made no sense. Why would she ever seek him out?

"Because I love you," she replied simply, with a sad little smile. "But I understand now."

"Do you, now?" Joshua swallowed, as the blonde teenager looked away suddenly. "Yes, I do. At last."

"You hate anything you don't understand and everyone you can't control. You've been given power, but with that power came chains. You've sacrificed everything to become who you are, and... that's why I love you." A tear rolled down her pale, white cheek- Joshua started to brush it away, but she was just out of his reach. "Because you can't love me back."

Suddenly, Rhyme chuckled self consciously, and that forced smile returned. "Well, I have to be going soon. Take care, Joshua."

Too late, after she had been swallowed up by the crowds, Joshua had the presence of mind to call faintly, "Take care, Rhyme," before turning on his heel and vanishing into the crowds himself, eager to get away from that wretched barrier. But it seemed like the hooks in the barrier only pulled him backwards now, and the cold air wasn't the only thing that made his eyes sting.

He wasn't going to give her up so easily.

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Well? Should I continue? It's probably nothing more than a three-parter, but it'll be taking the place of ISW's updates. So...?