A/N:

Here it is, chapter 6. Just one more to go...go me, don't be lazy! XD

This chapter is beta-ed thanks to Nirex. Thank you Nirex-chan! XDD Ur the best~

Warning: Joshua being Joshua and Neku being Neku. Angst. OOC-ness maybe? Hmm...not much I can say about this chapter except the lack of fighting scenes. Sorry about that.

Pairing: JoshuaxNeku Friendship as usual, a little nudge down the NekuxShiki road.

Disclaimer: TWEWY doesn't belong to me, trust me this is purely out of curiosity and for the sake of fun only. I gain no money from this.

Day 6—To Understand Him

Neku gave a huff as he took a sip from his warm tea. Today's breakfast was scrambled eggs and toast. His mom and dad were busy and things were getting very hectic, especially today. After all, Christmas was merely a week away.

His parents were busy preparing for a yearly celebration he and his relatives had every year. He didn't like spending time with his relatives. Especially since he had no cousins his age. His cousins were all younger than him, and facing kids weren't really his forte. He was really grateful that Shiki and the others planned their Christmas gathering, or else he would have to spend another boring party with his obnoxious bratty cousins.

He took his Amida jacket and tugged it on ungracefully before exiting the house. He huffed and smiled slightly as he saw his breath form into white puff in the air. It was getting colder and he hated cold, but seeing those white puffs in the air always made him smile.

It was winter, but snow hadn't fallen yet. Perhaps the snow was just waiting for Christmas? A white Christmas was always the thing people loved, but it wasn't that big of a deal for Neku. He didn't like snow; for him, snow was nothing more than a symbolism of something weak and fragile that if touched,would disappear. Snow was cold and it made him bundle up so much he could hardly walk properly.

But somehow, snow was also beautiful in some ways that Neku couldn't describe. But still, it was nothing really special that was worth waiting for.

Neku entered Wildkat and shrugged off his jacket. He headed towards the kitchen and heated some of the porridge he had made yesterday before walking up to Mr. H's—Joshua's room. Joshua was playing another song when he entered.

"Oh, you're early today, Neku dear," Joshua said as he noticed Neku's presence. The orangette sighed and placed the tray of food he had brought on the end table. He eyed the ocarina carefully.

"And what song was that again?" Neku asked. Joshua shrugged.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Neku repeated in confusion. The silverette nodded.

"I just felt like playing something," he said. "I don't even know how it came out." He said calmly as a reminder of his condition. But what baffled Neku was how he said it like it was the most normal thing on earth. Neku looked away as he narrowed his eyes. The only thing he could hear afterwards was Joshua slurping at the porridge and he sighed. Man, did that make things awkward…

"Something on your mind, dear?" Joshua offered as he took another spoonful of porridge. Neku sighed. He was still trying his best to synchronize his thoughts and speech. Joshua might be able to read his mind, but he felt like an idiot whenever Joshua answered his unvoiced questions. He liked talking better, believe it or not.

"How are you feeling?" Neku asked, slightly concerned. It seemed that for each day, the angels inflicted a new 'disease' on Joshua, so he was wondering if the Composer had indeed acquired a new illness.

"Never better," Joshua answered, his tone light and casual. Neku couldn't figure out if he was lying or not. Always the usual Joshua he knew, he thought as he sighed.

"Honestly, Josh, if you don't feel well, you should just say so," the orangette said in slight annoyance. "I'm here to help you, you know. I can't help you if you don't say what's wrong with you."

Joshua gave a light giggle. "I'm fine, dear. There's no need to worry about me so much," he said. "Thanks for loving me though."

Neku cuffed Joshua's head and sat down on the edge of the bed. Joshua pouted. "That hurt, Nekky," he said in a childish manner. Neku huffed.

"Serves you right," he replied. "You know, Joshua, would it hurt you to be honest? Your answers always stump me. Instead of serving their purpose, they merely add more questions to ask."

Joshua giggled again. "That's my intention," he answered. Neku felt a vein of annoyance tick on his forehead. "What, are you trying to figure me out? Sure, you're welcome to try, dear. See if you'd be the first to succeed, heehee."

Ah, that was what Neku was waiting for. The orangette smirked and looked directly into the Composer's eyes. Oh, they were the oddest shade of violet. But that was irrelevant at the moment.

"Fine. Play a game with me," he said. Joshua blinked in confusion.

"I'm afraid to ask. What game do you have in mind?" Joshua asked. That look in Neku's face always gave him a sense of foreboding. The orangette's smirk went wider, if that was even possible.

"Answer me first. Will you play a game with me?" the younger boy pressed. Joshua sighed and shrugged.

"First tell me what game this is," he answered. "It's not fair forcing me into a game I don't even know about."

"You're the one to talk," Neku rolled his eyes. "You made me play your game without my consent. Or don't tell me you're too chicken to play a game with me? Afraid of losing, hmm?"

Joshua sighed. Hah, as if, he thought. "Fine, I'm game," he answered. "Now, if you would care to enlighten me, what kind of game do you have in mind?"

Neku smirked. That was the answer he was hoping to gain. "A yes or no game," he said. Joshua tilted his head.

"And…? How do you play this game?"

"Simple. We take turns asking a yes or no question which we have to answer honestly," the orangette replied. "The goal is to gain the most yes answers. We sit back to back. With each yes, the asker can lean backward slightly and thus, the one being asked lean forward. If the answer's no, the asker leans forward and the other party leans backward. The first one who can't lean forward anymore loses."

Joshua lifted his brows. So Neku was serious about trying to figure him out. He sighed. "Where did you get the idea of such a silly game, Neku?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Honestly, this isn't the kind of ingenuity I'm expecting from my dearest proxy."

"Shut up," Neku shot back as he climbed onto the bed and sat down. "Now, turn around. You agreed to this. You can't back out."

The silverette sighed again as he placed the emptied plate of porridge back onto the end table and turned around. "Fine, but you have to work hard to synchronize your mind with your intended questions since I can't read your lips this way."

Neku smirked. "Remember, only the honest to goodness answers," he said. "One more thing. You can ask questions that aren't yes or no, but you lose three turns for that. Oh, and only honest to goodness answers." He reminded.

"Yes, dear, I heard you the first time," Joshua sighed. "Now, who's going first?"

"Me, since I challenged you," Neku said. Joshua shrugged against Neku's shoulder. "Okay, first question," he said. Perhaps he shouldn't go straight to the point. He should go slow but steady on this. He didn't want to rush things. He had plenty of time. "Were you ever alive?"

Joshua sighed. "What kind of question is that?" he said. "Of course I have been alive once, Nekky,"

"Lean forward then, I win," Neku said triumphantly. "That's the idea. Do you get it?"

"Fine, fine, I understand," Joshua sighed as he leant forward a bit. "My turn."

"Shoot."

"Mmhmm, do you like Misaki?"

Neku felt himself blush. "What kinda question is that?" he yelled. Joshua giggled behind him.

"A yes or no question, dear," he said as-a-matter-of-factly. Neku muttered something inexplicable as he shook his head. Damn you, Joshua, he thought.

"I don't really know," he answered. "Shiki is my friend and was the first one that ever tried to figure me out. So I guess she's…special in some ways." The orangette murmured, but Joshua heard—read him and the silverette gave a satisfied giggle.

"I win then," he said cockily.

"No, that doesn't count," Neku argued. But Joshua leaned back nonetheless.

"Don't worry dear, I'm sure your beloved likes you as well. Heehee."

Neku scoffed in annoyance. "Shut up, prick. My turn now," he shook his head. "Okay, you look fifteen, but you really are older, aren't you?" he asked. Joshua gave a small mumbling sound.

"Mmhm, let's just say that I am," he said and leant forward a bit.

"Let's just say?" Neku repeated. "Exactly how old are you?"

"Ah, ah. It's my turn now, Nekky dear," Joshua warned. "Mmhm, do you pleasure yourself often?"

Neku felt himself getting redder. "God, Joshua, what's with that question?" he snapped back in embarrasment. "No! You lose, now lean forward, you perverted old man!"

"Ah, it was worth it," Joshua said with a giggle. If Neku insisted on playing this kind of game, he would take advantages out of it to tease him further. Neku growled.

"You jerkass," he grumbled. "My turn. How old are you?"

"That's gonna cost you, dear," Joshua warned. Neku sighed and the silverette took that as an okay. "I don't remember. I died when I was twelve or so. It had been such a long time that I stopped counting how long I had been Composer for. After all, I had a lot of other things to consider than my own age."

"Hey, that's not an answer!" Neku chided. The silverette laughed.

"You said honest to goodness answers," he shrugged. "I am being honest."

Neku gave a 'tch' and shrugged. "You don't look twelve." Joshua giggled.

"Of course, dear. Do you honestly think this is how I really look like?" he asked. "I imagined this is how I would look like as a fifteen year old."

"Why not use your real look, then?" Neku asked back.

"Mmhm, if I looked younger than you, would you trust me as much as you did during the game?" Joshua answered. Neku averted his gaze. "I rest my case."

"Fine, your turn," Neku stated. Joshua smirked. Ahh, this is gonna be fun, he thought amusedly.

After exchanging more and more embarrassing questions after another, the two were tied again and each were sitting straight against each other once again. Neku huffed. He never felt more embarrassed before, but Joshua seemed to be enjoying this. He groaned in annoyance. It was his turn again.

"Next question," he said. "…Are you ever lonely?"

Joshua was silent before asking back. "Does 'I don't know' count?" he asked. Neku banged the silverette's head with his own. "Ow! That hurt, Nekky!"

"Honest answers only!" Neku said. "Now, answer it! Yes or no!"

Joshua sighed and contemplated if he should lie. After all, Neku wouldn't know whether he was lying or not, right? But the idea of this game was to be honest. Joshua never cheated in any game before. All he ever did was find loopholes in the rules. But in this case, the rules were vague as was the very game. Even if he lied, Neku wouldn't know.

But Neku was earnestly trying to figure him out. To understand him, as he had suggested. Joshua was never one to 'whine' as he called it, but seeing the orangette's determination, somehow he didn't want to lie either. It was quite the dilemma.

He sighed as he looked back slightly towards his proxy. Neku was really doing his best to understand him even though he had to go through all of this. Before, he wouldn't even bother trying to understand anyone. But Neku had changed a lot. He had changed from someone who was very antisocial to a normal person who wanted to have friends. Sure, he wasn't really the best soul in Shibuya yet, but he was getting there.

Joshua shared Neku's view in people before too. People were liars, untrustworthy, and were hypocrites. But he could see that underneath all those things, no person was truly evil. Some people were just corrupted. Neku was just like him, except that he didn't bother trying to see the good in people.

Well, fine, he thought. Joshua sighed as he leant forward. Neku felt torn between wanting to smile in triumph and to frown. Of course, Joshua was lonely. After all, Mr. H's words had already revealed that much. Perhaps he just wanted to hear that directly from Joshua.

"Your turn."

Joshua stared into space. "Why did you hate Shibuya?" he finally asked. Neku looked to the silverette as if he had just grown another head. That was a random question

"That's gonna cost you three turns," Neku reminded him. Joshua nodded. "…I didn't hate Shibuya. I just used to not think much about Shibuya because I thought of Shibuya as small, stifling and empty. Although I understand now that it is in fact, not any of those things."

"Mmhm," Joshua answered, as if pondering on something. Neku sighed.

"My turn," he stated. "Why did you become the Composer?"

"Then it would be my turn again next, right?" Joshua laughed. "Alright. How do I say this? Because it's fun?"

"You're lying," Neku snapped back as he hit Joshua's head with his again. Joshua gave an inaudible giggle as he playfully winced.

"That hurt," he said. "You should really stop doing that, or you risk giving me a concussion."

"It wasn't that hard," Neku reasoned. "Now give me the truthful answer or you lose."

"Hee hee, fine, dear. Let's just say that, since I was alive, I've always been able to see the games. The idea of a game with a second chance in life intrigued me," he answered. "So when that accident happened, I joined the reapers for some time. But I wasn't satisfied with how things went then. I was determined to change it, so I took over, and became the new Composer of Shibuya."

"Why weren't you satisfied with it?" Neku asked in confusion. "You said the games intrigued you so how come you weren't pleased with it?" Joshua shrugged.

"Shibuya wasn't always like this," he answered. "My predecessor couldn't see how much potential Shibuya possessed. I couldn't stand to see it like that. It was like a bird strained in place when it was actually able to soar hundreds of feet into the sky."

Neku turned his head and stared at Joshua in surprise. He never knew how strongly Joshua felt towards Shibuya. He had always thought that for Joshua, Shibuya was insignificant, that it was something he could simply get rid of and replace just like that. After all, he did say he was going to erase Shibuya before. But seeing how much Joshua really cared about his city like this, perhaps that decision pained him as well. Perhaps he also hated the idea of erasing Shibuya himself.

Neku gave a light smile. The thought was somewhat comforting. Knowing that Joshua liked Shibuya just as much as everybody else, if not more, was reassuring.

Joshua suddenly gave a light giggle. "Well, it was something like that, perhaps," he said, as if to cover up what he just said. "Well then, it's my turn."

"Alright, go on," Neku replied.

"Mmhm…do you like Shibuya?"

"Hey, that's—"

"A yes or no question," Joshua smirked. Neku groaned. He had honestly thought Joshua would ask a non-yes or no question again. But no, he wanted to make use of his 3 turns skip.

"I used to dislike it," Neku answered. "But now I like it. It's my…world."

"Lean forward then, dear," Joshua said. "Next, do you like the people?"

Neku pondered the question a bit. He shrugged. "I don't dislike nor like them," he answered. "I just feel like I'm able to tolerate them more. But like? I'm not sure."

"Alright, it's your win then," Joshua said as he straightened up. "Next, are you happy the way you are now?"

Neku looked back at Joshua solemnly. "Happy?" he asked himself. "Happy, huh? Yeah, I think it's safe to say that I am."

"Good," Joshua felt himself smile. "Then I win. Your turn."

Neku leant forward a bit. "Okay," he answered. "How do you feel about Mr. H's…erasure?"

Joshua sighed. So this was what Neku was after. "Mmhm, I don't know," he said. "Sanae was not exactly what I'd call a friend. He was more like…a lion. Some times he guarded me and my game, but when I turned my back, he was ready to stab me in the back. If you're wondering about his…betrayal, yes, I expected that as well."

"You're not sad at all? I mean, you've been with him longer than me," Neku said, clenching his fists. "No emotion at all? After all he did, no anger, no resentment, no grief, nothing?"

"Nope," Joshua said. "But perhaps…"

Joshua went silent and looked up to the ceiling. Neku waited patiently as he counted his toes. Good, they were all there. Joshua gave an unreadable smile—which Neku couldn't see of course, for he was sitting with his back facing Joshua.

"…just perhaps, I will miss that constant smell of coffee bean and pumpkin soup."

Neku closed his eyes. That's perhaps the closest Joshua would say that he felt sad about Mr. H's erasure. He gave a nod, motioning for Joshua to continue. Joshua felt himself relax. Perhaps this could be good, after all. He had been alone far too long. He had forgotten how good it felt to let everything out. To have someone to listen to your problems and fears.

He had forgotten how it felt to be human.

"Alright, my turn," he said. "What about you?"

Neku frowned. "About me what?" he asked back.

"Mmhm, Sanae. The stuffs."

Neku looked down. He hadn't really thought about Mr. H after yesterday's incident. It was still a bit hard to accept, the fact that his idol was no longer there. "Well, I don't know," Neku finally answered. "I was sad when I heard about Mr. H's erasure. But I just…he won't like it if I waste my time mourning. So yeah…I'll be fine."

"Alright," Joshua said as he leant forward again. "Next…why are you staying here?"

"What?"

"You heard me," Joshua shrugged. "Why do you insist on staying here? You know you can't help me. You already know all this isn't merely a 'fucked-up-game' as you called it."

Realization hit Neku. "You followed me the other day," he said. Joshua giggled.

"Nope. You're just easy to figure out," he said. "Now, answer my question, dear."

Neku looked down. Why, he said? Why…yeah, why did he stay? "…just because," Neku said. "I told you, I can't ditch you. Even if I can't help, I can't just leave like that."

Joshua closed his eyes. "…alright. Your turn."

Neku sighed. "What about you, then?" Neku said. "Are you sad?"

"About what?" Joshua countered.

"About everything," Neku replied. "About this…purification…about your ascension…your condition…everything…"

Joshua's eyes softened. "…no. I'm not," he said. "You lose. Lean forward."

Neku sighed. He let himself give a small smile. "Okay…next question."

The two continued their game. In the end, as night fell, Shibuya, as well as their room, went quiet as the two fell asleep on the queen sized bed that used to be Mr. H's, back to back. So the game ended in a tie. But more than that, Neku felt he had taken a step closer to Joshua. Even if just a tiny, small insignificant step, he was undoubtedly closer to the Composer.

He had taken a little step closer to understanding his friend.

Day 6—To Understand Him—Chapter Closed

A/N:

Well, there you have it. One chapter left, and I plan to post an epilogue. I think if you know the song Proof of Life, you'd be able to guess the title of the epilogue~ XD

Anyways, review please~