Chapter 2:

XXXX Author's Note XXXX

Well, here's the chapter! Huge thanx to the three first reviewers, and anyone else reading this fic.

To Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- Thanks for the advice, man. I need all the tips I can get. Also, the reason the characters are slightly different is that I pictured a Neku with his emotional barriers somewhat down after the Game, and the actual Shiki, not the happy, bubbly Eri clone. Thanks for noticing, though.

To Sgt. Red- Yeah, my dialogue's pretty crappy as it is. I'd appreciate some help on that part.

To PMiller1: Thanks for caring, man! You know, I didn't think anyone would read or care about this fic,

let alone review it!

You guys are the reason I didn't give up on this fic! Keep it up!

P.S. This chapter will be in Neku's point of view, again. I was thinking of cycling the part of narrator between the characters. Please feedback on this idea!

Well, here we go…

I turned back to Shiki, who was still blushing madly, her glasses still slightly misted from her tears. I cleared my throat and turned away, fighting the blush working up towards my exposed ears. I didn't know what was happening. Before I died, I didn't give a shit about anyone else. I didn't' get people, and I didn't think I ever would. Somewhere along the course of the game, I made the supreme mistake of opening up. Ugh. That Shiki got to me. Her happy, preppy attitude forced my mental barriers into submission. Hell, she even became my entry fee! I was still mentally beating myself up for that one. Couldn't they have just taken my headphones, or even my memories again? There's no way that Shiki could have become the most important part of my world! And yet… There was something about her…

GOD! I cursed to myself. Give me the Reaper's game any day.

Shiki ran up to me, shouting, "NEKU!!! Wait up!!!"

I realized that I had instinctively started walking away, leaving Shiki in the dust. Just like old times. I turned to Shiki, still catching her breath. Her cheeks were still tinged pink, and I didn't think it was from the exertion, either. I stopped and saw that we were in the scramble, the exact same place I woke up every day for the past 3 weeks.

"It's familiar, isn't it?" Shiki was next to me, her face slightly sad.

"It's too familiar," I replied, shuddering inwardly.

I felt the awkward silence rise up again, and we just stood for a while, looking at our former resting place.

"Did you mean it?" Shiki blurted out, blushing again.

"Mean what?" I groaned inwardly. What else could she mean?

Shiki's face was tomato red, I was struggling to keep mine normal. "When you said I was B- Beau-"

I sighed. "So, anyways, have you and Eri gotten back together?"

That caught her off guard. "Well, yeah, actually! She was really surprised to find me, you know, alive, but I told the truth and she actually believed it! Anyways, we're creating a cool two-piece outfit that will really go together with… "

I closed my eyes and listened to Shiki jabber on about thread colors, different clothing styles, et cetera. This was so complicated, but so easy. I realized that I could do this forever, basking in the companionship of my first and truest friend.

I suddenly heard sniggering behind us. Shiki and I turned and saw Beat and Rhyme laughing their heads off. "'Bout time!" Beat said, laughing, as Rhyme started to ask "So, have you guys kissed yet?"

Shiki blushed, I paled. Beat and Rhyme had progressed to singing, "Neku and Shiki, sitting in a tree…"
I slowly walked towards them, rolling up my sleeves. "If you guys thought that pins were my only attacks, you were DEAD WRONG.

Beat paled and ran away with Rhyme, leaving us alone yet again.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

Shiki thought. "Oh, hey! The new Tin Pin Genesis movie just came out! You wanna watch it?"

I thought back to the brief period of time in the UG when I was a Tin Pin fanatic. "Sure", I replied.

XXXX At the movie theater XXXX

"Well, what snacks do you want, Shiki?"

Shiki was slightly startled. "You're paying?"

I smiled. "I cashed in all of my expensive pins before I headed to the Shibuya River."

Shiki looked at me in shock. In all the time I had been in the UG, I had never cashed in a single pin. She knew that if I had sold them all, I would have gotten at least 4 million yen.

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

Shiki was still stunned. I ordered some nachos and a soda, while Shiki got popcorn and gummy bears. We entered the theater.

As I watched the movie, I found that I couldn't really follow it. More important things had flooded my mind, the most unlikely being, Shiki is right next to me, right there. If I reach my hand out and put it on the armrest she's using… At which point I'd shake myself out of it and try to focus on the movie. Then, I'd slowly get distracted by the slight change in the air when she shifted positions, the sound of her breathing (which I could amazingly hear over the movie), the smell of her hair wafting towards me. I had never experienced anything like this before, and, to be honest, I was scared.

An eternity later, the movie theater lights turned on, and we left the room. Shiki was ecstatic. "That was such an awesome movie, Right, Neku? Remember the part when…"

I didn't really pay attention to her words, I just listened to the music of her voice talking to me and nodded occasionally.

We had finally made it back to Ten-Four, and Shiki was still talking about the movie.

"…And at the end, where they all had that final showdown, wasn't that awesome?"

"Yeah, it was great!" My mouth was on auto-pilot.

We reached her house, and Shiki finally stopped jabbering on about the movie.

"Well, thanks for the d-, I mean thanks for the movie. Neku!" Shiki blushed as she almost said 'date'.

"Erm, yeah!" For some reason, I was embarrassed as well.

I then realized that we were a lot closer than we had been a second ago. My hands were at her waist, and hers were hanging loosely on my chest. We were in the infamous 'kissing position', as they say in the movies. I panicked and pulled away, stepping back--- right into a wall. I muttered some curses under my breath, rubbing the back of my head. Then, I realized fully what we were about to do. I blushed and turned away, running back to my home across the city. "Bye, Shiki!"

In the shadows, two people watched the entire scene unfold.

"Yo, so whadda we do now?" questioned one of them, his eyes nearly hidden under his black-and-white skull cap

The girl grinned, her bell pendant jangling in the breeze. "Initiate plan A, big brother."

And that's it!

I'm actually starting to like writing this fic, even though it's just my second day. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Please R&R, folks! I need all the advice I can get!

P.S. Whooaa!!! Even though I added a new chapter it still looks the same!!! How do I fix that!?!?! CHARLIE THE UNICORN 3!!!!