Warnings: elementaryschool!Neku&Joshua, fluff galore, minor sap (authoress is in that kind of mood, sorry!)

Author's Notes: Another one picked randomly by my dear brain-twin Tysonkaiexperiment. Man I love chatting with you my dear! So many ideas, so little time. Good thing we still have a while to go on this challenge, AND Solitary Confinement. Nonetheless, without you, this would be taking much longer to do. You help me get the confidence to write Joshua.

Ah, and if you don't know the song the lyric at the end is from, then I just about might die.

48. Childhood

Neku stood on a corner in Scramble Crossing, the seven year old's eyes staring at the bright neon lights of the nightlife in Shibuya. He was a Sakuraba, someone looked upon as something not human, at least not according to the rest of his classmates. But that was alright. At least, it was as long as he had the Kiryu kid.

Yoshiya Kiryu was a new student in Neku's class, and because of his odd silvery hair and bright eyes he was called an angel. Something that Neku thought was really funny considering Yoshiya's personality was anything but angelic. The boy was skilled at manipulating the other students into taking the blame for something that Neku or Yoshiya himself would do.

At first Neku was confused on why Yoshiya would use his expert skills in manipulation to assist him of all people, the other outcast in school, but it took a visit to the headmaster's office and Yoshiya's verbal skills convinced Neku that maybe this friendship was something worthwhile.

Thus began a friendship that many teachers and administrators began to dread. No matter what the duo accomplished, no one was able to peg them with any misdeeds. If the sentence was phrased incorrectly, Yoshiya would call attention to that and rearrange the focus of the matter at hand. By the time anyone realized they hadn't accomplished anything, Yoshiya and Neku were already long gone.

Neku sighed, glancing at one of the neon analog clocks nearby, the redhead frowned. The two were supposed to meet over an hour beforehand, and there was no sign of Yoshiya anywhere. Neku fumbled with the cell phone his parents had given him, and looked for Yoshiya's number in his contact list. Spotting it, he clicked call and held it to his ear.

The phone rang a total of seven times before it went to voice mail, where Neku quickly left a voice mail asking where he was and if everything was okay. As he flipped the phone closed, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Neku jumped and turned around quickly, taking a calming breath when he saw his best friend.

"What took you so long, Iya?"

The other boy giggled, pulling Neku into a hug. "Sorry, it took a while to get away from my parents." He pulled away and took one of Neku's hands in his own, leading him towards his favorite ramen shop. "They were trying to get me to explain why I got sent to the headmaster's office again this week." The two chuckled together conspiratorially, and practically skipped to Ramen Don.

Once inside, the owner waved and the two took their favorite booth by the windows, watching the people heading to dance clubs and bars spread all through Shibuya. The two bowls of ramen were set down in front of the two boys and Yoshiya handed over the payment for that week's dinner. As the two slurped down their dinner, Yoshiya kept fumbling with something in his pocket.

Neku noticed it after a little while, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "What's that, Iya?"

"Hmm?"

"In your pocket."

"Oh," Yoshiya pulled out a cd case, the front clear and showing the reflective cd inside. "This was supposed to be a surprise for you later." He fumbled with it some more before sliding it over to Neku, almost nervously. "I finally finished that song I was telling you about. And I wanted to share it, so I burned you a copy."

Neku placed it in one of his pockets, smiling brightly. "Thank you! I'll listen to it as soon as I get home." Yoshiya nodded and the were quiet for the rest of their meal. Afterwards, the two continued to wander around the nightlife of Shibuya, knowing it wasn't safe but unable to help their childish curiosity. The two eventually wandered back to Scramble, holding hands and chatting about the prank they completed earlier that week.

"We haven't thought of our prank for next week, Iya." Neku mentioned thoughtfully, swinging their joined hands back and forth. At this Yoshiya seemed to deflate. "What's the matter?"

"I'm not going to be there next week Neku."

Neku paused before brightening once more. "Oh well, maybe the next week we can do something even bigger. You know? To make up for it!"

Yoshiya let go of Neku's hand, his bright eyes lowered to the ground. "I'm not going back Neku. I can't." Neku reached for Yoshiya's hand, not liking how empty it felt without Yoshiya's in his own. Yoshiya took a step back, shaking his head. "Dad got a transfer. We're moving out of Shibuya this week and I don't know if we're ever coming back."

"You can't leave me!" Neku cried, stepping closer to his friend. "What will I do without you?" He had a hard time resisting the urge to shed tears. "You're my only friend." That word the other students called Yoshiya popped into his mind, and Neku couldn't stop himself from saying it, "My angel, Yoshiya."

The boy smiled brightly, his tears reflecting the neon lights surrounding them. "Yeah, but I can't go against Mom and Dad, Neku. No matter how much I like you."

Neku nodded, shifting from foot to foot. "I understand."

Yoshiya pulled Neku into another hug. "But I gave you that cd. You have to remember me okay? You have to!" Neku nodded and the two boys shared another hug. Part of Neku didn't want to let go, because he knew that when he did he'd never see his best friend again.

"I'll miss you."

"Miss you too Neku!"

Ten years later, and Neku was sitting in his room, cleaning out files and folders, trying to make it easier for himself when it came time to move out and go to university. He came across a pile of old cds, a bunch of them home mixes he made himself when he decided to shut off from the world. But one cd wasn't labeled, and when Neku pulled the disk out of the case, he could remember a little boy with light hair and bright eyes who liked to listen to music as much as he did.

And when Neku placed the cd in the old player nearby, and listened to that song, he once again remembered a time when everything was sunshine and butterflies, and when his whole life revolved around hanging out with that little boy he called Iya.

Close to you I hope to stay, Endlessly from today.