Hello everyone! First, I want to THANK ALL OF YOU WHO REVIEWED! It was really nice to hear your thoughts, and I'm glad you guys all like these stories.
These next eight are all a little longer than the ones before. I got a little carried away. And a few of them actually have a Neku who's . . . dare I say it? . . . In. Character.
Yes, I know. It seems impossible. But it worked! One of them is the Neku from the first week (you know, kinda pissed at the world, not caring about anything at all, but with a smidgen of a heart). The other just has Neku being awkward. Awkward Neku is adorable.
Disclaimer: I don't own WEWY. Don't remind me.
[WARNING! MORE SAPPINESS! BE CAREFUL, IT MAY HURT YOU]
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Essence [WARNING! NOT ENTIRELY ROMANCE]
inspiration: Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
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The back streets of Udagawa were almost always empty. One could definitely find solace there; shelter from the overwhelming noise and business of Shibuya. Those streets and the CAT-designed murals that adorned them seem to define and condone solitude.
It was these murals that Neku turned to when he was lonely. They seemed to tell him that he didn't need anyone else, that he had to look out for number one, that all the world needed was him. He felt bolstered, confident, strong.
He stood in front of those swirling images, tracing the outlines with his eyes. The pictures shouted at him: Carpe Diem! Live in the moment! The world is yours!
And it was true, the world WAS his. He was fine on his own. He didn't need anyone else.
His cellphone beeped, and he twitched instinctively before tugging it out of his pocket.
Get to Spain Hill. You have 10 minutes. Incompletes will be dumped.
Grinning, he set off at a run. One really WAS the loneliest number. And if two was company and three was a crowd, then four must be overwhelming. But as he turned from Tipsy Tose Hall onto Spain Hill and into Shiki's arms as she and Rhyme laughed at Beat's feeble attempts to pull off some new 'sick tricks', Neku couldn't help but think that 'overwhelming' was what Shibuya was all about.
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Rejection
inspiration: Misery Business by Paramore
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They met in Udagawa. It was Neku's favourite place, after all, and once he'd explained its signifigance, it became Shiki's favourite place as well.
"If it weren't for what happened here," she often said. "We would never have met."
They walked together back towards town. As they descended the concrete stairs, Neku suddenly spoke.
"Eri asked me out."
Shiki sighed. "Did she." Her voice was monotonous. She'd known it would happen. Just a few days before, the red-head fashion queen has expressed her interest in the music-addict, and Shiki (being a good friend) had extressed her own untruthful well-wishes. To be honest, the thought of Eri and Neku together made her sick.
"I said no."
Shiki tripped and almost fell down the stairs. She was only spared a forceful encounter with the pavement and a second untimely death by Neku, who grabbed her by the waist and pulled her tight against him. Her heart poounded as she got her balance back — from not from her near-death experience. Neku held her closely, his arms wrapped around her skinny frame.
Finally, she pulled away, feeling an immediate loss of warmth and comfort as she took a step back.
"You rejected ERI?!"
He stared. "Yeah . . ."
"But — but . . ." she spluttered. "But you're always staring at her!"
"So what?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Well . . ." She couldn't help but blush when he looked at her like that. "Usually, when someone stares at someone else like that, it means that they have . . . you know, FEELINGS for them."
"Yeah . . ." He was looking at her as though she had lost her mind.
"So you DO like her!:
"NO! Shiki, you're not making any sense at all!"
"But you just said —" he stopped her by stepping forward. He was only inches away from her now.
"Think about it, Shiki," he whispered, sliding his hand down her arms and making her shiver. "It's not Eri who I associate with that body." And he kissed her.
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Eat
inspiration: Super-Size-U by Stage4
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"Let's go to Sunshine. I'm thinking about getting fat."
Neku stared at his girlfriend in shock. "What do you mean?"
Shiki shrugged. "Well, EVERYBODY is skinny like this," she said, gesturing at her flat stomach. "But it's the fat girls who draw peoples' eyes."
"And why would you want that?" Neku gripped her hand almost violently
"I want to be different, you know?"
"Different?!" Neku spluttered. "Shiki, you're the clothes producer for the biggest independent label in Japan. You survived three weeks in the fricken' Reaper's Game. You have a stuffed cat-pig-thing that fights Noise, for God's sake! You can't get much more different than that!" She blushed, hanging her head. "But— " he added. "If you really want to, go ahead. I'll love you no matter what you look like. Actually —" A sudden thought struck him. "I'm going to FORCE you to get fat, so then no one but me will want you and I won't have to keep fighting off all your fanboys!"
Excited, he started running toward Shibukyu, dragging a horrified Shiki sputtering "Neku, I was kidding. KIDDING!" behind him.
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Rebel
inspiration: Golden by Fall Out Boy
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"Why don't your parents like me?" Neku's eyues were sad and searching. "What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing, I promise." Shiki hugged him. "They just think your friendship is a bad influence. Since I started hanging out with you, I've started to listen to loud music and stopped trying to design my own clothes."
"Hmph." He let out a huff of air; then, suddenly, his eyes glowed and he slid his arms around her waist. "So my 'friendship' is a bad influence, eh?" He grinned wickedly. "What do you think they'd say if we started dating?"
Her eyes widened, and she grinned back. "They'd probably say you were a WORSE influence," she said, pulling close to him. "But teenagers are supposed to rebel, aren't they?"
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Necessity [WARNING! A MOSTLY IN-CHARACTER NEKU! WHAT?!]
inspiration: Earthquake by The Used
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"I can't stop thinking about the game." she whispered, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I have dreams about what would have happened if we'd never become friends."
"We would have been erased." He wasn't one to mince words.
The sun was setting over Dogenzaka. The orange light illuminated her face, glistening in her hair. "So we're only friends by necessity?"
He shrugged, avoiding her eyes. "I guess so."
She stood up and shot him one final look before turning and making her way toward the stairwell.
"But Shiki —" he called, still not standing, not turning. "It's still necessary."
She paused, her hand on the door handle; then she turned and went back to him, sitting beside him and leaning against his shoulder. He put his arm around her, still not looking at her, and from the roof of Pork City they watched the sun sink below the buildings and out of sight.
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Escape
inspiration: Easier to Run by Linkin Park
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She was packing, stuffing all her clothes unceremoniously into a cardboard box.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She spun around to see his orange-haired figure leaning against her doorframe. Of course. She turned away from him, swallowing hard.
"Packing. Why are you here?"
He came in and stood beside her, pulling things out of the box and examining them. "Your parents called me. They want me to talk some sense into you." He grabbed her wrist and forced her to face him. "You can't just leave."
She wrenched away and turned her back on him. "I certainly can," she snapped — but her voice was trembling. "I just . . . I can't be here anymore. I can't keep seeing these places . . Where I died, where we fought Noise, where Rhyme —" She broke off, shaking her head. "It's easier to run."
He stepped toward her and pulled her against his chest.
"It may be easier to run, but you're stronger than that. These feelings are things you have to face and conquer. And that's something I know you can do. I'll help you, I promise." She was shaking, and he felt her tears on his neck. "Besides," he added in a whisper, stroking her hair. "I need you here."
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Appreciation
inspiration: Sweet Talk by The Killers
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"Do you have any idea what you mean to me?" Neku said, out of nowhere. Shiki looked around; they had stopped in the middle of the Scramble, and people were giving them strange looks as they rushed by.
"Uhh . . . no?" she answered, trying to push him along, but he stayed firmly in place.
"You lifted me up, took me over, lifted the burden from my shoulders, removed the chains, cleared my view, freed my mind, held my hand, and let me fly." He was staring at her seriously.
She was so red and warm, she felt she might explode. "Uh . . . what brought THAT on?"
Grinning, he pointed up at the Q-Floor screen, which proclaimed in massive letters 'APPRECIATE YOUR LOVED ONES'.
She smacked his shoulder and dragged him out of the middle of the road. But she couldn't held thinking about what he'd said.
"You're delusional," she said, sometime later when they sat down to lunch.
"Huh?" He shot her a quizzical look.
"You cannot fly." She tossed a fry at him.
"Maybe not," he shrugged. "But when I'm with you, it feels like I can."
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Breakfast [WARNING! NEKU IS AWKWARD AND EMBARRASSED]
inspiration: These Nights are Long by So They Say
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He couldn't sleep. He lay awake in the darkness, thinking. About her.
"Goddamnit!" he growled, crushing a pillow over his face. He forced himself to think of soothing things like fighting Noise and playing Tin Pin, but everything led back to her and made his heart race.
Finally, he gave up. As he grabbed his iPod, he heard quiet clinks from the kitchen, and smelled bacon.
He snuck downstairs and peered into the kitchen. He was so shocked that he fell over. She turned around.
"Oh," she smiled. "You're awake."
"Shiki," he groaned, pushing himself up off the floor. "What on earth are you doing here at 5 a.m.?"
She shrugged. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd break in and make up breakfast." He stared, incredulous. She blushed. "You see, it's really hard to sleep when I'm thinking about you, Neku."
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AND SCENE!
These don't have as many aspects of the game as the first set, but hopefully it doesn't retract from the stories.
For the record, I now have 471 hrs and 44 mins clocked. I really hope that they count mingle time, because that's just depressing. I haven't even finished the pin report yet.