Atonement
Fandom: The World Ends With You (TWEWY)
Pairing: Neku/Joshua
Setting: Post-game, AU of "Purification"
Summary: When Neku was asked what he wanted to deliver, forgiveness or punishment, he needed only a few moments to decide and to answer; punishment.
Stage 1 - The Tutors
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Neku groaned as he blinked his eyes open, glaring at the alarm clock, before he abruptly smashed his hand down to shut it up. Grumbling in annoyance, the 19-year-old dropped his head back on his pillow with a small groan. "Nrgh… too early…"
"Sakuraba Neku! GET UP!" shouted a familiar voice just before his blankets were ripped off of him.
"Gah! Kurasa!" Neku yowled as he shot up on his bed.
"Then get up. What're you gonna do when you're on your own, huh?" the other redhead said with a small growl as he threw the blankets back at his younger brother.
"Oomph! Oh c'mon! Gimme a break!" Neku grumbled as he got up properly.
"Maybe I will if you start getting up on your own," Kurasa grumbled as he left the room.
Neku growled softly, but even as he did, a small smile played on his face. He stood from the bed and walked to the bathroom. As he climbed into the shower, he found his mind wandering to his 7 year older half-brother.
When Neku was born, Kurasa had been 7 years old, and from that moment on, the pair had been inseparable. Sadly, their mother hadn't survived giving birth to him, and with no registered father, they had soon been sent to an orphanage. Neku didn't much remember that place, so all he had to go on was his brother's retelling of events. When Neku was 2, they had been adopted by a man called Sakuraba Reachi, but he had been anything but the perfect parent. He'd often go out late with his friends and left the kids to fend for themselves.
And while Neku hated this, Kurasa seemed indifferent to it all and took all life threw at them in stride. When Kurasa turned 18, their dad didn't return home, not that night, the day after, or the following week. It wasn't until a month later when they would learn he was dead.
This had been a major blow to Neku, barely 11 at the time, and he had ended up becoming more and more closed off from the world, and he started to have arguments with Kurasa. They were often very serious and usually involved him threatening to run away from home.
And the day he had stormed off after one such argument… he got shot.
Shaking the thought away quickly, Neku washed his hair and stepped out again, getting dressed in his uniform. Once done with that, he left the washroom and grabbed his bag from his room before he hurried downstairs, where Kurasa was already busy cooking.
The older Sakuraba was 6'00" tall and his limbs were packed with little else but muscles, but he looked only slightly broader than his younger brother, he had long, deep red hair that reached his waist, usually secured in a loose ponytail by the back of his neck, and he had sharp, icy blue eyes that seemed capable of looking straight into your soul. This was what made it difficult for Neku to lie to him…
Much like Neku, his favorite brand of clothes was JotM, because he hated clothing that restricted his movement in any way.
"Yaaaawn… Morning," Neku called out from behind his hand, making Kurasa look up.
"Morning, sleepyhead. That took you long enough," Kurasa snorted out.
"Ah, bite me!" Neku grumbled, dropping himself down on his seat and starting on breakfast.
"Don't tempt me."
Neku only rolled his eyes and didn't even bother with a response (though that was also because he had his mouth full).
Kurasa shook his head a bit and walked over to the table, sitting down himself. "So, you had anything planned with your friends afterwards?"
Neku allowed a small smile. When he had first brought his friends over, of course Kurasa had been surprised, but damn if he showed it on his face. He had just gone along with it and he seemed to have no problems with any of them. In fact, he seemed to think it most hilarious to mess with Beat's head, often ending in makeshift struggles (which Kurasa always won, by the way).
"Mm'nah, not today. How so?" Neku asked curiously.
Kurasa didn't speak immediately and instead sipped his tea, before he looked up. "There's something I need to discuss with you. It might take a while, though, so if you have nothing else to do, come home immediately, alright?"
That was new… Kurasa didn't usually like long discussions, claiming they were too long-winded for him. However, there was something about his expression that said that, whatever he needed to talk about, it was definitely important.
"Yeah, a'ight, I'll be home ASAP."
Kurasa only nodded and said nothing else, focusing instead on his own breakfast. That wasn't anything new; Kurasa rarely spoke during mealtimes, claiming it was 'undignified'.
Neku finished his breakfast and put his plate, glass and utensils in the dishwasher, before he hurried for the door. "I'm going now!" he called out. "See you tonight!"
"Ja ne!" Kurasa called out in turn, and Neku smiled as he fixed his shoes and then rushed outside.
Kurasa watched Neku go from the window, sipping his tea quietly, as the boy disappeared from view. For a long moment, he remained where he was, before he shut his eyes and inhaled, his mouth opening a tad and exposing two pair of razor-sharp incisors, before he exhaled and opened his eyes… revealing sharp, cold eyes with slitted pupils.
"…Almost time… so… will you forgive… or will you punish… otouto?"
Something was off…
Neku wasn't sure what, but here was a strange vibe in Shibuya. Some sort of… tension, maybe? And Neku, not for the first time, wondered if the Composer's state of mind was linked to Shibuya's vibe. Because if that was the case, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do the most; sympathize with the Composer… or laugh in his face.
Of course, that last one was only possible if said Composer actually showed his face.
Since the end of the Game, Neku had made several 'invitations' to Joshua to join him and his friends at Hachiko during the weekend, and even a few times to come to his house, but the Composer never showed up. Of course, he had never said them, but he had been thinking it, and he was certain, he was so sure, that Joshua would and could hear him.
And yet he never showed…
He even went to WildKat a few times, but every time he went, the place was closed. So either he just had lousy timing, or even Mr. H was avoiding him…
'…Joshua…'
Neku looked outside, biting the back of his pen in thought (they had free-study now, so no one was going to get on his ass for it). Even after almost 5 years (in a month it would be five), he wasn't 100% sure what to think about the end result of the Game. He had lost, after all; he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. Couldn't bring himself to return the bullet that had been lodged in his chest by that… silver-haired, annoying, obnoxious, irritating prick no matter how much he wanted to do it. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't do it and he knew, the moment he let the gun slip from his fingers to land on the ground, that he had condemned Shibuya to Erasure… possibly for good…
And yet… Shibuya still lived, still breathed, and still pulsed from its powerful beat. That was, possibly, the biggest question he wanted an answer to;
"Why did you spare Shibuya? Why didn't you end it?"
But, naturally, he didn't get an answer.
He wasn't sure if he could forgive Joshua yet. Was it even possible to forgive someone for all the shit Joshua put him through? He didn't know, but he was 5 years further and he still didn't know…
Maybe it was better to just… forget about everything that happened…?
"Hell no," Neku grumbled as he turned back to his book. He wasn't going to forget, but he wasn't going to forgive Joshua.
Not unless the jerk got down on his knees and begged him for it, but the chance of that happening was slim to none.
Something was definitely off, now he was sure of it. The city was filled with a sense of apprehension, tension… and a hint of… what was that, fear? Was the mighty Composer of Shibuya… afraid of something?
Hah! That was rich!
Neku chuckled as he walked up to his and Kurasa's house. It used to be their… well, adoptive father's (Neku still had trouble calling him "dad", even now), but since Kurasa had been a legal adult when he died, the house had been passed on to him. The two brothers had yet to see a reason to move out of it, even after so long.
He unlocked the door and walked in. He was about to call out, but as he did, Kurasa's voice resounded through the door to the living room… and it sounded like he was talking to someone.
"…Yes, I'm almost done here… just give me one more month, alright? … sigh… You're such a big worrywart, Kamui. Really now, I've been an adult for how long now? I can take care of myself."
Neku blinked, before he took off his shoes and walked for the door slowly.
"…Yes, yes, I know, I know… Look, I couldn't leave him on his own, alright? You know I–… oh shush, you. No, I'm not considering that. … Oh for… Kamui, I am not a kit anymore, alright?! One month. That's all I need and then I swear I'll come back. And I'm through discussing this matter with you! I'll see you in a month! Goodbye!"
And with that, Kurasa disconnected the call with a frustrated growl. "Stupid… overprotective… jealous… yandere!" he growled.
"'Yandere'?" Neku asked instinctively, which caused Kurasa to yelp and whip around.
"Oh for–Neku, DON'T do that! Esh!" Kurasa grumbled, holding a hand to his heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack…"
Neku chuckled a little, before he turned serious. "Who were you calling?"
"Actually, I was being called… and no one you know," Kurasa said calmly, tucking his black cellphone in his pocket.
The redhead knew that he wasn't going to get anything else out of his brother, so he merely nodded. As he looked closer to his brother, though, he realized that he had (for once) styled his hair differently. Instead of only a single ponytail, he had it done in nine; one from his bangs, two hanging on his shoulders, and six hanging down his back. It was a bit strange, but it suited him.
"Sooo… what'd you need to talk about?" he asked finally.
Kurasa didn't reply immediately, but finally, he sighed and moved his bangs aside. "…Let's sit down for this, alright?"
"Huh? Um… yeah, sure…"
This wasn't going to be pretty… something big was up… he could tell.
Once they sat down in the living room, Neku waited a bit anxiously for whatever it was Kurasa needed to discuss with him. The other redhead took his time with it, though, seeming to be weighing how he could say what he was planning to say the best. And he wasn't finding it, by the look of things.
"…Hmm… may as well…" Kurasa mumbled, reaching into his pocket. "When were you planning to tell me you've played this?" he said with a soft snarl as he tossed a small item onto the coffee table.
And Neku almost paled, but he did freeze up.
The item on the table… was his second Player Pin from the Reapers' Game.
"Um… bro, you know I play Tin Pin Slammer already… that's just—"
"A Shibuya Player Pin for playing the Reapers' Game," Kurasa said sternly, and Neku actually did pale now. "And don't tell me you've no idea what I'm talking about. You've been reacting to things involving the Game whenever I mentioned them!"
At that, Neku winced sharply. He couldn't deny that; his brother was perceptive, and certain phrases that he had said over the years had made Neku wince, made him remember the Game that had changed his life. Of course, he had never planned to tell Kurasa about it, but it seemed that the older Sakuraba had known all along.
"I… I just…" Neku started, not daring to look his brother in the eye. If he did, he'd spill everything, he knew. That was just the kind of effect Kurasa had on him. "I… I didn't… I mean…"
Kurasa frowned, before he sighed in annoyance. "Fine, so you weren't going to. Then let me ask something else; why the hell didn't you shoot?!"
"What?!" Neku snapped his head up the moment he shouted staring at his brother in shock.
"You heard me; why didn't you shoot?! He was right in front of you and you choked! What were you thinking?! Hell, if it'd been me–"
"Don't you dare assume you know what I went through, Kurasa!" Neku screamed suddenly, anger bubbling to the surface. Not at Kurasa, but at the 'almighty Composer of Shibuya'. "Okay, FINE! He shot me and got me into the Game! But that doesn't mean I had to shoot him when I had the chance!"
"Cut the BS, Neku! You wanted to shoot him for all he did and yet you didn't! Why?! You knew what was at stake! You knew and yet you–"
"But he didn't Erase Shibuya! He said he would if he won, but he didn't! So what if I didn't shoot?! What does it matter?! The question I want answered is why he didn't just end everything! That would've been the easiest choice, wouldn't it?!"
"Maybe but you couldn't have known that he wouldn't do it when you came to that point! So what fuckin' reason did you have to not shoot!?"
"You wanna know why?! FINE! Because I still considered him my friend, alright?! Still do! I trusted him! I still trust him! Okay, FINE! He shot me, twice! But he also helped me! Several times! Hell, he even introduced me to CAT! To frickin' CAT, Kurasa! Do you have any idea how much that meant to me?! How often does a person meet a person they idolize?! Dammit, Kurasa, I know that he did things that were–are–unforgivable but fuck! That doesn't mean I… I…"
Neku trailed off after a while, as he began to run out of breath from all that shouting, so he gasped and choked for breath.
"D-dammit, bro… yes, he shot me twice… but he… he also saved me… twice…"
Kurasa said nothing. He merely watched his younger brother struggle for breath for a while, before he sighed. "So… you can't forgive him… and yet you still trust him?"
"…y… yeah…" Neku murmured. "I… I'm such an idiot… he… he probably doesn't even…"
"Neku."
The redhead tensed, but he looked up anyway. His brother watched him silently, leaning sideways in his seat, leaning his head on his knuckles and one leg flung over the other, his free hand resting casually on his knee. Kurasa didn't speak immediately, simply staring him down… and Neku felt himself wondering… had his brother's pupils always been vertical?
"…If you could deliver to him one of two, which would you give him; forgiveness, because he saved you, and chose not to Erase Shibuya and all who live in it, and gave you and your friends your lives back, or punishment, for killing you, placing you in a game of life and death against your will, betraying your trust in him, and never offering a single word of apology?"
When his brother spoke those words, Neku remained silent for only a few brief moments, for the answer had already formed itself inside his head before Kurasa had even finished speaking. There really was only one valid answer anyway…
"…Punishment."
The word was out before he could reconsider it, but even after it was out, he had no desire to take it back.
And Kurasa merely allowed a small smirk, causing one of his sharp fangs to poke over his lip. "I had a feeling you'd say that… Well then, do you want me to teach you how?"
Maybe, if Neku had been actually distrustful of his brother, he would've noticed that Kurasa was planting thoughts into his head through Imprinting, even if it was only with singular words. As it was, however, Neku only thought it over for a total of 30 seconds before answering. "Yes…"
Kurasa allowed a soft chuckle. "Alright…" he said as he stood up. "Then I may as well start teaching you, ne?"
Despite how his mind was screaming at him that something was definitely wrong with this picture, Neku couldn't say no. The thought of enacting punishment on the one who had put him through hell (almost literally), squashed his usual rational thinking, and it almost scared him at how much he wanted to hurt Joshua…
"Y… yeah…"
"Alright, shall we go, then?"
And Neku accepted his brother's hand, not even caring about the older man's sharpened nails as the fingers coiled around his hand. It just wasn't important.
Hanekoma Sanae barely looked up from washing another one of his cups as the quiet air in WildKat was disrupted by the rapid, anxious footfalls of the Composer as he paced, one arm coiled around his waist and the other raised to his mouth as though he was about ready to start biting his nails. This behavior, while startling to others, wasn't anything new to the barista, and he merely allowed a small smile as the silverette paced in yet another circle, his pace almost eating away at the floorboards.
'3… 2… 1…'
"…Why is it taking so long?!" Joshua demanded on cue. "Why haven't the Higher-ups said anything yet?! It's been almost–"
"Hey, hey now, Boss, chill out," Hanekoma chuckled. "No news is good news, right? Don't get yourself so worked up. If something is to happen, it'll happen regardless."
"But it's almost five years now, Sanae!" the Composer exclaimed in something that could almost be called a desperate wail. "If the Higher-ups don't do anything before then–"
"Boss, he's dead," the barista said seriously, all trace of humor gone. "Calm down; he's dead. We both saw him die that day, and it's unlikely he survived."
Joshua was silent for a few moments, and only stood there silently, thinking, before he slowly nodded, though his expression was still apprehensive. "But… what if… what if he's not…"
Hanekoma sighed. "Josh, he's dead. Now just calm down and drink up your tea."
"…Y-yeah… yeah okay…" Joshua mumbled, finally settling himself down behind the counter and beginning to gulp down his tea.
And Hanekoma merely chuckled.
When Neku blinked his eyes open again, he was a bit startled to find himself in a dark room that was lit only by a number of blood red candles, and he was laying on a large bed. 'Huh…? How did I… get here?'
"Good to see you're awake again, Neku," his brother's voice quipped suddenly and he blinked and sat up to face him… and remembered immediately.
"Oh… I fainted?"
Kurasa allowed a soft laugh, running a hand through his hair. "I don't blame you, kid… I admit that it's a lot to take in so suddenly…"
"…why didn't you… tell me sooner?" Neku asked, a little unsure.
"I hadn't actually been planning to, to be completely honest…" Kurasa admitted with a small sigh. "But things… well, circumstances changed, and I suppose I didn't have much of a choice." At that point Kurasa frowned. "…Actually, I did have a choice… but I believe that this was the better choice to make."
"…oh…"
Neku wasn't sure what to think anymore. After what Kurasa had just told him, he wasn't certain about anything anymore, but his brother sounded sincere when he spoke, still, despite all that. He wanted to believe, but he wasn't sure if that was a smart idea…
"Neku."
"Huh?!"
"There's still time."
"…time?"
"Time to back out."
"Back out of… wait what?! NO!"
"No need to shout," Kurasa mumbled, rubbing his ear. "My ears are sensitive, yanno?"
"Um… sorry. But, what I meant… I… don't want to quit. Not yet…"
"…You really hate him, huh?"
"What? No! I just… I want him to… you know… apologize and… well…"
Kurasa remained silent for a while, before he shut his eyes. "He's not going to. Not so easily."
"I know…" Neku waited a few moments longer, before he asked, slowly: "Teach me?"
"…Hachi."
Neku blinked once, confused, before there was movement in front of him by the foot of the bed. And when he looked up, he almost bolted upright in alarm. "Jo—"
"Neku, this is Hachi. Hachi, Neku."
The shorter redhead stared at Kurasa for a few moments, before he looked back to 'Hachi', who gave a small, respectful bow. "Please take care of me," he said quietly.
"…But… he… he looks just like…"
"That's the point," Kurasa said, getting off the bed as Hachi straightened up and placed a hand on the new arrival's shoulder. "Hachi will be assisting in the upcoming lessons. So do try to get along, kay?"
"Huh? B-but I thought…"
"Don't worry. It's really easy once you get the hang of things. So just relax, alright?"
"…a… alright…"
And thus began Neku's "lessons".
This story might not get a sequel, so I'm actually already giving away what happened to Neku's folks in this stage. Next stage will have a number of familiar elements from Purification, and yet it'll be completely different.