Disclaimer: I do not own The World Ends with You/ It's a Wonderful World or any of the characters/places/or concepts within. They're owned by Square-Enix and Jupiter, respectively, and are not being used for profit. The plot and any characters/places/ or concepts not used in said game belong to me and may not be used without permission.
Chapter 1- Three Months Later
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something - Murphy's 8th Law.
When the world shifted once again, Sakuraba Neku couldn't really say he was surprised.
The sharp, synthetic sounds of birthing Noise hit his ears and the flustered teen was moving without a second thought. Fingers moved to the pins on his side bag, while the familiar gestures of various psychs worked themselves out in his other hand. He moved with practiced grace, spinning on his heels to catch his attacker with a slash-
"What the HELL kid?"
Neku blinked in dull shock when his open hand thumped into the chest of a rather peeved office worker. The man stared down at the teen, one prematurely graying eyebrow arched and a slight scowl on his face.
Neku stared right back up at him, blue eyes first widening, then slitting in a well worn and practiced glare. "Get outta my space." He shot back, voice slipping into familiar deadpan. It was so easy to do, even now, and why waste the talent? He turned away quickly before the man could reply, fighting to keep the embarrassed blush off his face.
The Noise static coming off the man got louder. But Neku couldn't blame him. He HAD just been judo chopped by some random high schooler on a random crowded street, after all.
Part of him wondered what the mans story was; why were the Noise clinging to him like a second skin, even to the point of giving off vibes here in the RG? But another part just wanted to forget the whole fiasco. Just because he had a better acceptance of people now didn't mean he understood them any better. What was he, a psychiatrist? He had done his universe required hero bit.
But the buzzing static still echoed in his ears, both from the office worker and from various other passersby. A constant steady hum, like a million mechanical mosquitoes that only he could hear. Mosquitoes that liked to show up the moment he thought a normal life might just be do-able.
Neku wondered, not for the first time, if this was all some cosmic joke. It was the kind of ironic teasing he wouldn't put past Joshua; not telling him, -them-, about this lovely little side affect of their rebirths. Of course Joshua hadn't really told them ANYTHING. There had only been the crack of a gunshot, the smell of burning flesh. Then the waking, sore and confused, in the middle of the Scramble. It wasn't like there was a manual to this shit, at least not one HE had access to.
All that he had was that insane buzzing, that prickling on the back of his neck, the rush of wind like someone rushing past him that was never there. Feeling a Game going on around him that he couldn't see, couldn't touch, but that affected him all the same.
And he knew, somewhere, there was a certain Composer that was watching all of this and giggling.
But, regardless of how much the entire process pissed him the hell off, he had other things to worry about. Like the fact that his little side trip was going to make him late meeting up with his friends.
The thought hit him like a ton of gold plated bricks. Friends. It was an alien but wonderful concept that still snuck up on him, even these few months later. The idea that there were people, even a few, that kept showing up, kept waiting for him... was staggering. The scowl that he had been sporting faded to a more relaxed little smile as he walked.
His concern about how late he was faded pretty quickly to annoyance though once Hachiko came into view with only the tiny figure of Rhyme sitting in the dog's shadow.
The slightly tweeked teen picked up his pace, wriggling his way through the crowd to reach the younger girl. "Neku! There you are." She smiled sweetly up at the older boy, her head cocked to one side.
Neku sighed, pinching his nose lightly. Rhyme was a sweet kid, and regardless of their age difference he considered her one of his close friends. Which in turn made him all the more annoyed.
They all had gotten into the habit of meeting up at the loyal statue before school. And so little Rhyme was dressed in the junior- high uniform, complete with pleated skirt and bow, unlike her normal Beat-mimicked tomboy gear. There was no way to mistake the blond for a boy now. Which made the absence of her ever looming older brother, ever vigilant for various real and imagined perverts, particularly odd.
"Gah! Where's your brother so I can smack him?" He hissed, letting his hand drop from his face.
Rhyme's smile devolved to a sheepish look, her fingers tenting in front of her face as if she was the one in trouble instead of Beat. "Err... Niisan's in morning detention." She replied.
Neku paused for a long moment, letting the news sink in. "What?! What for?" It wasn't that he was too surprised that the ever delinquent Beat was in trouble, though they had been making progress in calming down the sometimes violent teens outbursts. It was the fact that Shiki shared quite a few classes with the blond, and if something had happened in class he would of heard about it before now.
"Hmm." Rhyme tapped her fingers for a moment before answering. "He... he punched a janitor after school, when he was picking me up."
Neku blinked at her in shock, but her hands flew up, stopping him from talking. "It's not his fault! He said that man was...bad... you know..." She gestured vaguely at the air, and something told Neku that it wasn't because she couldn't find the word.
He stared at her and mouthed one word: Noise?
Rhyme nodded somberly, her fingers moving to her lap and restarting their nervous tapping. "Something about the guy was a little weird, yeah. But when he happened to come near us Niisan just... lost it. Put him down. I've never seen him go after someone like that. He said something about the guy 'rubbed him funny'. I just don't know... He didn't press charges, but since it was on school grounds he got a week's detention before school."
She sighed, looking at her hands. "He wanted me to stay at the school until first bell, but I knew you and Shiki would be wondering where we were, so..." She looked back up at Neku, her worried frown becoming a slightly coy smile. He rolled his eyes. She had known just how Neku was going to react to their unplanned disappearance; the girl was just a clever as her brother was dense. It all kind of evened out.
"Alright! Fine. I'm not mad..." He tossed his hands up in a surrendering gesture, plopping down next to Rhyme. "But what about Shiki? I thought-"
"I'm here! I'm here!" A voice cut through the babble of the busy street, and Neku looked up to see a frantic Shiki running towards them, waving her arms like she planned on taking off.
"Oh good! You guys haven't left yet!" She skidded to a stop in front of them, panting lightly to catch her breath. Neku arched a brow at the breathless teen, watching as she blushed and pushed her glasses back up her nose. "Sorry, Sorry! I didn't mean to be late, but I wanted to finish something up before class and- Where's Beat?"
Neku groaned at his spastic friend as Rhyme retold the epic of 'Beat vs. The Janitor'. Shiki frowned, looking worried. "Do you think he really saw something? I mean, yeah sometimes I get goosebumps, but ATTACKING someone?"
"Of COURSE he did!" Rhyme retorted, standing sharply. "Dai- BEAT, wouldn't hit someone for no reason! He's not a bad person!"
Neku stood as well, quickly putting a hand on each girls shoulder. It seemed that Rhyme's protective urges were just as strong as her brothers. "Whoa. Calm down. She didn't mean anything by it, did you Shiki?"
Shiki looked a bit hurt for a moment by Rhyme's outburst, but recovered quickly. "Of course not. I'd never say something bad about Beat. He's my friend. I'm sorry." She smiled reassuringly at the younger Bito.
Rhyme quickly relaxed, nodding. "Sorry Shiki. This whole thing's put me on edge. Mom and Dad are really mad." Her tiny shoulders slumped, and Neku couldn't help feeling bad for her. The siblings were still fighting to rebuild the bridges years of parent-child fighting had burnt down. It hadn't been easy, but it finally seemed they had been making headway. This fight must have been pretty rough to put the younger sibling off so much.
"Well. Maybe I can make up for it, kay?" Shiki said with a grin. Rhyme cocked her head to one side as Shiki reached into her backpack, pulling out something soft and orange looking.
Neku's eyes widened and Rhyme squealed in delight. It was a life-sized Squirrel-Noise doll, complete with carefully stitched graffiti swoops on the legs and wings. Rhyme clutched the toy to her chest, looking much more the pre-adolescent girl she was than normal.
Neku looked over at Shiki, questions in his eyes. She shrugged back at him, smiling.
Rhyme, as far as they could tell, had no memory of her time as a Noise. But within a week of their return sketches and doodles of the creature had begun appearing on her notebooks. Beat had been near frantic with worry, but after the elder friends talked it over they decided it was just a harmless regressed memory of her time as a pin. In fact, it had almost become a mascot to the group, though Beat would occasionally stare at the drawings with all too-shiny eyes.
"So that's what you were working on?" Neku asked, a smile on his lips and a hand on one hip. Shiki blushed again, nodding.
"Wow Shiki! Thank you!" Rhyme was grinning ear-to-ear, previous family related angst forgotten. "She's so cute! You're really talented." Shiki's blush deepened, and Neku could of sworn he saw her kick at the ground, just a little.
But the fluffy moment was all too soon crushed by Neku happening to glance at the clock on his MP3 player.
"Shit!" The curse flew out of his mouth, causing the girls to jump and turn their gazes towards him. "We got 15 minutes guys! We gotta go. NOW." Shiki gulped, and Rhyme hurriedly tucked the doll in her pack. It was a good 25 minute walk to the school. If they were lucky, and the streets weren't too heavy, they could make it. Maybe.
Neku spun on his heels and took off at a dead run, looking over his shoulder to make sure the girls were following. He was happy to see they had no issues keeping up, even Rhyme with her shorter legs was booking. The three darted between the throng of people like only Shibuya natives could.
And so it came as a bit of a shock when Neku heard a yelp of surprise followed by a squawk of pain. The teen skid to a stop, nearly hitting a pediatrician, and turned to make sure no one was hurt.
And there was Shiki, being helped up by Rhyme and holding her ankle. Neku ran back, dropping to his knees next to his friend. "You ok?" He asked, his voice managing to keep cool and calm, even though her yell had nearly scared him to death.
He gingerly touched her ankle, noticing it was already swelling to the size of a baseball. Damn, but she held up rather well considering how much it had to hurt. "Y-Yeah. I think so... I... think I tripped over something." She stood for a moment, then relented and leaned on Rhyme's offered shoulder, regardless of the fact that she wasn't tall enough to give much in the way of physical support.
Neku found the culprit easily enough. A discarded shoe in the middle of the sidewalk, sitting all alone in front of a graffiti covered alleyway. He picked the offender up, turning it around in his hands. It looked like an everyday sneaker. A Wild Boar skater-shoe if you wanted to get technical (And the fact that he knew that much about brands now kinda scared Neku, just a little).
He looked around, wondering how someone older then three could lose a shoe without noticing. His eyes fell to the alley, and a young man staring up at the mural inside it.
The man looked younger than 20, but older then Neku, with even more Boar gear to go with the partner to the girl attacking shoe. If he knew he was missing the sneaker he didn't show it, just watching the art like it held the secrets of the universe.
"Hey! You missing this?!" He called out to the man, holding the item up. He didn't respond. Didn't even seem to hear. Neku scowled. It was times like this he remembered why he had hated people so much.
"Come on! You could've killed someone with this thing!" This time his voice was more yell, and the man finally turned, eyes zoning right at Neku. At first he still didn't seem to really SEE Neku, but oh so slowly those eyes focused and a grin played on the formerly slack face. 'Oh shit, weirdo senses tingling...' Neku began backing up slowly, watching the man with wary eyes. Last thing he needed was some perv coming after him-
- his thought was quickly cut off as the man darted towards him. So fast. TOO fast. Like something out of a bad Sci-fi movie. There then here in a blink. Neku barely had time to yell out a warning before the man gripped the collar of his uniform, dragging the shocked teen into the alley and tossing him against the painted brick wall.
The air in Neku's lungs gushed out as the man re-caught his collar, re-slamming him into the wall with even greater force. He was nearly lifted off his feet by the power of it, his shirt buttons popping violently. 'What. The. HELL!?' His thoughts were panicked, but already starting to organize themselves. He wouldn't of made it though three weeks of hell if he couldn't think on his feet.
With a strangled yell his kicked forward, cracking his foot into the side of his attackers kneecap. A sickening pop filled the alley way, and a shriek of pain followed it. The man pitched to the side as his leg folded on it's self, allowing Neku to get untangled.
"NEKU!" Shiki's voice rang out, pulling his attackers gaze away from him. But there was no way in hell he was going to let this freak go after his friends. He owed them that much. With a terrified battle cry Neku rolled back at the man, fighting for a good hold. He wasn't going to let him up if he could help it, and for a moment he thought he had a hold of the thrashing man's wrists.
Until things got very, very, weird.
Flesh rolled and swelled under his finger tips, and Neku watched in horror as the tattoos covering those arms started to move. The black ink wriggled like a dozen pissed snakes, and when they pressed against his skin all he could managed was a shocked squeak.
That didn't feel like skin. Not HUMAN skin anyway. And as it pressed into his own flesh all he could hear was static.
'Noise?! No...that's not-' But apparently it was, because Neku suddenly felt like the world had turned upside down. He fell bonelessly to the ground, thrown by the tattooed man like a rag doll. 'Shit...he's fast AND strong...'
The teen struggled to his feet, only to see the man topple back to the ground with a pissed off Shiki kneeling on his gut. Neku watched in dull wonder as the girl began beating his attacker about the head with her backpack. His wonder was short lived as the Noise-man managed to lift his arm, the tattoos seeming to pull free of his flesh and forming razor-sharp claws, superimposing them over hooked fingers.
"Shiki! Your right!" He screamed. Shiki reacted instantly, just like a good partner should, raising her backpack just in time for it to take the fatal attack meant for her. The claws sank into the material, sending books and papers flying instead of blood and other things. Neku's legs finally moved, and he was on the man's arm in a moment, fighting with everything he had to keep it down and away from his, or her, body.
And as he went to subdue, he saw Rhyme dart in, kicking at the man's head with just as much ferocity as her brother would. But no amount of ferocity was going to help them right now. The man seemed to flex, energy pulsing out from his body and sending the three ex-Players flying farther into the alley. 'God what I wouldn't give for a psych. Something. ANYTHING.' But the pins had stopped working the moment they had stepped back into the RG, which was probably for the best.
Except for now, of course.
The man stood, seeming to tower over the teens. More and more of the tats were starting to move, and more and more of his form seemed to become... flat. Less flesh and blood and more ink and soul. Neku tensed, ready to throw himself at it's knees, give the girls a chance to run...
CRACK!!
The three teenagers watched, stunned, as the man's eyes rolled back into his head. The Noise-man stumbled for a second before collapsing in a shuddering heap.
Neku looked up in shock, coming eye-to-collarbone with a very pissed off Beat. The uniform clad skater had his board raised, and Neku could see a few splats of blood on the deck. "An' stay down. Bitch."
"Niisan!" Rhyme threw herself at her brother, who lost his enraged expression in exchange for a big grin. He caught the tiny girl, scooping her up into a nearly painful looking hug.
"Dammit Rhyme! I told ya to stay at the school, aight?! You coulda been hurt!" He continued to cling to the girl until her wriggling told him she needed air as much as anyone else. "Yo, you guys ok?"
Neku nodded, carefully stepping over the limp form of the semi-Noise. "Yeah... I think so."
Shiki limped after him, wincing with every step. Neku assumed she had only hurt herself more when she had dove at the crazed man. "Shit Shiki, this fuck do tha' to ya?" Beat asked, kicking lightly at the body.
"No, no! I tripped..." She crouched carefully, pushing at the body with her fingers. "Holy... Is he dead? How hard did you hit him Beat?!"
Beat flinched, arms shooting up as if to protect him from some verbal assault. "Whoa! I barely touched 'em! Anyways, guy was 'bout to go all Wolverine on you asses, what was I 'posed to do?!"
Neku rolled his eyes at his bickering friends. "Shut up, both of you. He's still breathing... just out cold." He wrapped his arms around himself, frowning down at the body. "We should get outta here, before anyone notices him or he wakes up and notices US."
The other three nodded and started making their way out of the odd graffitied alley, Shiki well behind. Beat watched at her for a moment before crouching down, arms stretched back. "Aight, get on."
Shiki blinked at him for a moment before turning bright red. "Nono! It's ok! I'm fine..."She waved her hands wildly, as if he was coming at her with a knife instead of offering help.
"Ah, stop ya squawk'n. I do this for Rhyme all da time. You ain't THAT much bigger." He smirked at her as her embarrassed red turned into angry red.
"That much!? Grr... fine. But don't drop me!" The blond cackled. "Nevah your highness."
She climbed on the taller teens back oh so carefully, and before long she was comfortably piggy-backing. She tucked her nose into the hair at the nape of his neck, now exposed without his hat, a pleased smile on her face. "Thank you, Beat." She cooed, voice sing-songy. It was Beats turn to turn red as he stood. "Ah, er, don' mention it. Ever."
Neku watched this, feeling like a royal ass for not offering to help Shiki himself. He was still getting used to this whole 'noticing others' bit after all. He fell in step with Rhyme, thinking worried thoughts.
"So why aren't you back at school Niisan?" Rhyme asked, her head cocked once again.
Beat glanced back with a anxious look. "'Tention ends a half hour before class. You'd run off an' these two weren't there yet... Thought... some'n might of happened. Good thing too, yo. Tha' Reaper woulda had your asses if I hadn' come looking for ya."
Neku snorted. "You so sure it was a Reaper?" Beat mimicked Neku's snort, badly at that. "Come on Phones! Course it was. Dude was a dude, not some fucked up kangaroo. What else 'e gonna be?"
Neku stayed silent at that. No point arguing over something neither could prove. They already had enough issues this morning.
The foursome chattered on, throwing out theories on what exactly had happened, but soon fell into a comfortable silence. If there was one thing they had all gained from those three weeks, it was the ability to see, and accept, just about anything.
But even with that subtle but useful power in hand, things were only going to get weirder.
The crowd in front of the school was just as thick as the ones out on the streets, and Neku seriously wondered if the universe was out to get him.
"Wha... What is this shit, yo?!" Beat yelped, mouth gaping like a dieing fish.
For once, Neku had to agree. It looked like every kid ages six and up was hanging out in front of the conjoined school, all with matching expressions of confusion and joy. They could hear a dozen different conversations going on around them, and the annoying clacking of quite a few games of Tin Pin. It was a virtual sea of green and white uniforms.
Shiki grinned, clapping her hands. "This is great! Now we won't be late after all!"
"Do you think there was a fire?" Rhyme asked, holding her chin in her hands and studying the buildings carefully. There didn't SEEM to be and flames or smoke, but who could tell with all these people in the way?
"Hold up, I got this." Beat chirped, snagging a passing student. The kid was 12 at most, and looked like he expected the over excited Beat to eat him here and now. "Yo, what the hell's going on?"
The kid squeaked, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. If Beat noticed the issue he didn't show it, instead giving the much smaller boy a friendly little shake. "Er...uhm... someone pulled the fire alarm." Beat blinked down at the kid, looking a little disappointed. "Aw man, that's it?" The flustered kid wriggled like a caught rabbit, but seemed to be getting into his story. "Yeah... all of them. At the same time."
The entire group gaped in surprise at THAT one. Beat let the frantic kid go, turning back to the others. "Holy shit! You hear that?! No fuckin' way!" Neku watched the ecstatic Beat bounce around, swearing he was seeing an over sized three year old on Christmas. It was embarrassing, to say the least.
"Gah... stop that. You look like a Prince fan-girl. They'll just make sure nothings going to blow-up, and then send us in like nothing happened. The Principal wouldn't let us off THAT easy. He doesn't believe in free days." Neku snorted, crossing his arms and watching Beat's face fall.
"Ahh...come on Phones. Ya don' have to be so cold 'bout it." Beat rubbed at his nose, looking the part of a chastised child. Shiki giggled a little, but looked a little saddened by Neku's more realistic assessment of the circus-like atmosphere.
"That's weird though... all at the same time? Is that even possible?" Shiki mimicked Rhyme's thoughtful pose, her glasses gleaming dramatically in the morning sunlight. "It has to be some kinda prank, right?"
But before anyone could offer any other theories the bell screamed, joined by dozens of disappointed voices, including Beat's.
They said their good-byes to Rhyme, who had to jog to catch up with her own class. The younger Bito was reluctant to go, the memory of the psychotic skater Noise still fresh in her mind, but a few whispered words and Beat's worn cell-phone pressed into her hands seemed to help. Neku feared for anyone who gave Rhyme any shit when she had a direct line to her brother at her fingertips. "Just speed-dial Shiki or Phones, kay. I be right there, got it?"
Rhyme giggled, assuring her over protective brother that she 'could take care of her self just fine.' But Neku knew no amount of reassurances was going to pry the images of 4-doors and concrete sharks from Beat's mind. He didn't blame him, not in the least.
The three remaining friends made their way into the crowded hallway, and as one their eyes fell onto the... thing... that covered most of the core hall wall.
It was a tag. One of the biggest ones Neku had ever seen outside of CAT's murals. The lines and swoops were sharp, the images popping with a kinda of sick life. The artists' talent was obvious, though it lacked the soul tugging quality of Neku's idol. It seemed to lean towards gray scale, making the rare dobs of color seem all the more eye catching and intense. And the location made it all the more surreal, even covering the main office's door and window.
It was huge, impossible and wonderful. Caught somewhere between inspiring and creepy, seeing as there wasn't any... subject. No logical design. Just maddening shapes that meant nothing and tried to convince you they meant everything.
The teachers' were hurrying their gawking students along, making sure no one got closer than five feet to the graffiti, which only made the hallway all the more crowded.
"Wow... is that one of Mr.- one of CAT's?" Shiki whispered, leaning against Neku lest anyone else hear.
"No way. Style's totally different. Not bad though. How the hell did it get here?" Neku replied in a equally low whisper, his face shock-slack.
"Was'n here this morning, Tha's for sure." Beat added in, rubbing the back of his head.
"But you were gone for what, a half hour? That's im-" Neku's words were quickly cut off by the jostling crowd and scowling teachers. It seemed any other theories would have to wait. Neku managed to get off a short wave to his friends before fighting his way to his first class, head ringing with a dozen different questions and not a single answer.
The first two classes of the day had done little to clear Neku's head. Talk of the phantom tagger was on everyone's lips, and the theory ranged from it being some new artists crazed bid for stardom, to an inside job by one of the teachers. Not to mention most everyone assumed the 'fire drill' was a cover for the vandal's activities. Neku couldn't really disagree. It DID seem a little too convenient.
As did the tattooed skater with a claw fetish.
He prayed for some kind of inspiration, some kind of divine input to what the hell was going on, and when exactly he had slipped into the Twilight Zone.
Literal divine intervention wasn't what he expected, but it was what he got, like it or not.
"Thinking deep thoughts Neku? How unlike you."
Said deep thinker jumped in his chair like he had been hit by a cattle prod. He never talked to anyone in this class. Hell he doubted the TEACHER knew his name... And that voice... He spun his chair around, thankful class hadn't started yet. That way, if he just happened to kill a certain pale haired teen, there'd be less witnesses.
"What the- Joshua! Some how I'm not surprised to see you." He snarled, glaring at his murderer.
Joshua sat there in the desk behind him, smiling and with his chin resting daintily in one long-fingered palm. The Composer watched Neku like he was some kind of especially delicious bug, giggling softly.
"Aw, didn't you miss your dear partner?" Joshua cooed, twisting a lock of hair between his fingers and looking as innocent as Judas.
"Not particularly." Neku grunted, crossing his arms and scowling. His former partner was just as infuriating as ever.
Joshua pouted, lacing his hands just under his chin. "You wound me Nekky, you really do."
Neku was just about to tear into the Composer for using Nao's nickname, when he was interrupted by... some girl he recognized but had never bothered to learn the name of. "Oh, is he giving you issues Joshy?"
"No, no. Don't worry about me Kaori..." Josh paused, giving Neku a meaningful look. "... I know just how to handle Neku."
Neku sputtered for a few moments, turning red as 'Kaori' started giggling. As soon as the girl sauntered away he turned his rage onto the violet eyed deity. "You realized people are going to start TALKING now, right?"
"I thought you didn't care what people think, Neku."
Neku groaned, hiding his face in his hands. It was impossible to talk to Joshua some times. "And HOW exactly did that girl know you? She an ex-Player?"
"Never met her before." he replied lazily.
Neku blinked, finally realizing the Composer was wearing a matching uniform to his own. Goddamn omnipotent powers.
"Anyway, I would think you'd be a bit more appreciative." Joshua purred, tapping his chin with a finger.
"For what? Killing me?" He hissed, voice all spit and hellfire.
"For making sure you weren't late for school today." Joshua leaned back, arms going behind his head.
"That was YOU?!"
"How else would all the alarms go off at once? Use your head Neku. Of course it was written down as a electric glitch." Josh yawned, tapping a foot to some nameless beat under the desk.
"And the tag?" Neku added, looking at the other boy cautiously.
"That's actually why I'm here. Like I said, thinking may not be your strongest point, but I know you must of noticed the similarities between it and another."
Neku sighed, wishing he had kept his prayers to himself. "Goddammit, do you always have to talk in riddles?"
Joshua said nothing, only stared at him with oddly serious eyes.
Growling, Neku fought to remember what the hell Joshua was getting at. Like another...
"The alley!" He slapped a fist into his palm, his scowl deepening. "I should of seen it before, shit!"
"Yes, you should of." Joshua added, a teasing lithe in his voice.
"... it wasn't you, was it?"
"Do you need to ask?" The Composer shrugged, grinning.
"Alright..." Neku slumped, surrendering. It was the only way to figure out what had attacked him. Better to make a deal with the figurative devil then to get jumped again. "What do you want?"
Joshua laughed, that tinkling laugh that was both enduring and infuriating at the same time.
"Isn't it obvious Neku? I need you to save the world."
Of course.
Of fucking course.
AN: For anyone who was thrown off by the use of the word 'Niisan' in this fic, I'm really sorry. Blame the rp I'm in that includes a Rhyme and Beat... Niisan just popped up and I'm just can't imagine the two without it now. Heh, forgive me?
Anyway, first TWEWY fic and first fic in a few years, so I hope my writings not to stiff. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by next week if things go well.
Here's to hoping for a TWEWY section on here soon!