"Hey, Neku! Hurry up, we're just waiting for you now!"

"Yes mom, I'm just grabbing my headphones!" Neku looked around the room, and found the object sticking out from under his pillow. He grabbed it and sprinted out to the car.

It was summer vacation, Neku's 18th birthday, and also the day he moved to his new house in Shibuya. His family lived in Ikkebukuro for many years, but Neku decided to move out because he had chosen a program that was not offered in their college. He had ended up choosing the Shibuya Program of Architecture, he's always had an unexplainable infatuation with cityscape, art, and urban design, therefore it made perfect sense for him to work towards becoming an architect in the infamous Shibuya. The program Neku applied to was in a building separate from the main campus, therefore it would be too much of a hassle to get a dorm. Therefore, he opted to rent a cheap house close to the school. After a few hours of driving, his father pulled onto the driveway and started to unload the suitcases.

Two hours later, Neku was pretty well settled in. He had all his belongings in his house, and just needed to organize them in the rooms. The house was very cozy, no extra rooms, just enough for one minimalistic person to live comfortably. Neku said his last goodbyes to his parents and promised to visit during all (that's an exaggeration) long weekends. The day was getting late, the sky dyed a hue of red and purple. Neku was about to unload his suitcase onto his bed when he heard a knocking on the door. Grumbling to himself, Neku wondered who would knock on his door when he had barely moved in. The opening of the door revealed a blond male.

Not him….Who? Not him… Like I said, who are you talking about?

"Yo! Here is your order of Puzzling Pizza!" Said the mysterious man.

"…What?" Neku asked, bewildered.

"Ugh, you listening man? I jus' said, I brought your order of pizza!" The man stated, his skull tuque hanging behind his head.

"I didn't order pizza… I think you got the wrong house.."

"Is your address 312 Oval Place?"

Neku sighed. "No, this is 312 Ovver Place."

"..Oh, my bad. Sorry man, name's Beat by the way." He said smiling.

"No harm done. I'm Neku." At least I should try to be courteous.

"Good to meetcha Neku, well, I'm off. Since I'm sort of late already. Sorry again, see ya around!" And he bounced away on his bike, Neku was scared for the intactness of the pizza.

Okay…weird dude. Neku thought. Anyways back to before. Who was he talking to, or rather, who was I talking to? Who was "him"?

A wolf howl came out of Neku's phone, signalling that it was about time for him to hit the hay. Neku brushed his teeth and cleaned himself up, he changed into his pyjamas and pounced onto his bed. Pouncing was fun, a lot more exciting than jumping or merely… okay, Neku, stop trying to defend your childish behaviours… He rolled his eyes to himself, pulled on his headphones, chose his "chill out" playlist and closed his eyes.

The next day, Neku was woken up by a knocking on the door. Much to his dislike, he got up and opened the door to greet the offender of his sleep. On the other side stood a girl who looked about his age, she had medium-length hair and wore, in Neku's opinion, really nerdy glasses. Or wait… was that a boy? The clothes were androgynous, so it was hard to tell. Neku waited for them to speak.

"Good morning, sorry, did I wake you up, Neku?" Definitely a boy… Is it him? Who is "him"?

"Umm… Hi?" Neku replied uncertainly.

"I heard you just moved in, I'm your next-door neighbour to the right." The boy indicated a nearby pink house with his thumb.

"Oh, I see, so…why did you come over at seven in the morning? People enjoy their sleep you know?" Neku said, not really bothering to hide his annoyance.

The boy continued, unfazed. "Well, I was just simply too excited to welcome my new, dear neighbour, and couldn't help but come here as soon as I could, by the way, I'm Joshua." Following this statement was a smirk. And Neku knew straight away that he would dislike that smirk for the rest of his life.

"Okay… whoa, wait a minute… How do you know my name?" Neku inquired, genuinely surprised.

"Pizza boy." Came the simple reply.

"What? Beat? How do you know him?"

"He's my roommate, he told me you moved in after he came home from his delivery last night."

"….Really!? Okay I guess that makes sense.. but wait another minute, he mistook an address on his own street!" Neku didn't know what to think of his new acquaintances anymore, he was never really a people person but these people on his block seemed really weird.

"That's Beat for you, better get used to it. Only by allowing strangers in, can we find new ways to be ourselves." Joshua's amused expression melted into the smirk again.

What the heck, has he been eating crayons? "Oh, thanks for the advice? And not to be rude or anything, but if you are done introductions, would you mind giving me some private time? It is still seven in the morning.."

"Hmmm, I suppose I'll leave you to your beauty sleep. Have fun, Neku!" And with that, he jogged back to his little pink house. Leaving a speechless Neku at the door.

Neku rubbed his forehead and closed the door, trying to comprehend the flamboyant personality that had appeared before him.

Joshua hummed as he loped back to his room. This summer was going to be fuu-un. Neku seemed to have changed for the better, but some old things still stayed the same, much to his delight. He entered the front door of his house and was greeted by Beat.

"Hey man!" Beat exclaimed.

"Good morning Beat, how was work?"

"Damn it was busy, didn't finish 'til late, ended up crashing at a co-worker's place nearby. Got back just now."

Author's Note

Okay, first real chapter up! Did anyone get the Dramatical Murder reference? XD Tune in for more!