This is a The World Ends with You fan fiction. Based post-game, so beware of spoilers. This is in no way intended to be yaoi.
Neku had changed a lot since the end of the all that took place. The most noticeable difference was definitely that he was no longer a loner and he had friends, really good friends. Since his parents were so overjoyed about this change, they easily let him switch to the school that his friends went to and that was great. But, even though Neku enjoyed every day of his friend-filled existence, it also came with problems. They were mostly caused by his best friend, Beat. Just in the last six months, Beat had: almost hit him with a door six times, popped his eardrums over twenty and once ran over his toe with his skateboard. He wished Beat would be more careful but it seemed that word was not in his mental dictionary. Since then, Neku had learned to do several things when he was with Beat to avoid injury and loss of hearing.
Usually he walked home with at least one of his friends but Beat had to leave early to pick up his younger sister. Shiki promised to meet her best friend somewhere for them to hang out. Neku didn't mind though, he enjoyed to have at least a few moments by himself every now and then.
However, that thought disappeared quickly when Neku heard the sound of his phone ringing. Well, there goes the tranquility of peace of quiet. Flipping his phone open, he checked the caller ID for a moment, (it was Beat,) and then answered it. As soon as he did, he instinctively held the phone a few inches from his ear.
"YO MAN, YOU GOTTA HELP ME!"
It was a good thing he didn't hold it right up to his ear, Neku thought as a few passersby looked at him in curiosity before going about their business. There was obviously a lot more weird things that people saw in this huge city than that.
"Calm down. What do you need?"
"I didn't know there was a dang test tomorrow!"
This was exactly why Neku paid attention when the teacher was talking in class. Oh well, Beat had gotten far better than he used to be.
"And you want me to help you study?"
"Well… Err… Not really, but, you need to study too right? So, we can be like, study partners I thought."
Still hasn't gotten over his pride, I see. Neku thought. It was quite comical that he was just freaking out, saying he needed help and then denying that he needed any in the first place. That was just how Beat was.
"Alright, where?"
"My place, yo."
"Okay, I'll be there in a half hour."
"That long!? Can't you get here sooner?!"
Neku thought sometimes Beat forgets that the normal person cannot just skateboard to every single place they go.
"I have to walk there Beat."
"Oh, right, right… Just hurry up, aight?"
Beat hung up and Neku shoved his phone back in his pocket. He changed his direction and headed to Beat's house.
…
Arriving in twenty minutes, Neku knocked on the door. It shouldn't matter who answered the door though, since Beat's parents adored Neku, thinking him a good influence on their son. Heck, Neku was there so often, they almost treated me like he was their son. He hung out with Beat so often since he didn't have any other friends, while Shiki had a best friend to give attention to as well. If only Beat's parents had seen him not too long ago…
Beat's younger sister, Rhyme, answered the door.
"You're early." She commented, friendly as always. "Beat is up in his room."
She'd probably heard the whole story from her older brother.
"K, I'm going up there."
Rhyme nodded and held the door for him to go through.
"Beat! Neku's here!" Rhyme called.
"Waaah! I'm not ready yet!" Beat exclaimed from upstairs.
So much for showing up early, Neku thought.
"Sorry about this." Rhyme apologized.
"It's fine."
He had more than gotten used to Beat's antics by now. Neku was a pretty even tempered person in the first place; he didn't think he had ever gotten angry with Beat, but there were plenty of times he'd gotten annoyed.
Beat hurried down the stairs a few minutes later.
"Aight, I'm ready now. Let's go."
Neku nodded and followed Beat upstairs to his room.
…..
Neku was astounded by Beat's lack of knowledge. He wondered if he waited until the test to actually learn the most. Geez, sometimes Neku felt like he was more of a teacher for Beat than the actual teacher. After a few hours of studying, Neku had to head for home; otherwise, he wouldn't get back before dark. Nobody wanted to be by themselves in Shibuya at night.
"Okay Beat, I gotta go now."
"Wait a sec! I wanna say something first."
Neku turned back around, prompting him to continue.
"It's just that you're… you always got my back and thanks for that."
Neku smiled, it wasn't like Beat to say anything like that very often. Then again, Neku wasn't very mushy either.
"You're welcome."
With that Neku left, thankful for the umpteenth time that he was no longer a loner. It was worth the risk of interacting with others, he understood that now. He also thought about how even though he blasted his ears sometimes and wasn't careful, he was still a good friend.
Fin