Neku can't make out who they are like this, their voices overlaying each other and the fog from the pin keeping him from recognising each of them, but he can tell that this is most of the reapers in Shibuya and they are not very happy.
"Who the fuck are you?" a few of them blurt out, loud enough to be heard over the rest, but the rat Noise sitting at the bar waves an arm and everyone else sits down and shuts up.
Neku's half-expecting to have to fight his way out, and the rat may be lazy but no one's ever heard of a rat that'd let someone take the nest without a fight, but the rat stares at him for a moment, twitches its ears, and fizzes back out into …
… Lollipop. "Kid," he says, like he has to dig out each word, "you picked a bad time."
"Guess so," Neku agrees, and it's strange how most of the reapers don't seem to have any idea who he is. He knows these people, at least a little, and 777's staring at him like Neku makes his head hurt. So that must be BJ and Tenho sharing the couch with him, and they don't have their guns drawn anymore, but they still look tense. Scared, even.
The only one who doesn't seem scared is Pi Face, and even he looks baffled as all hells. He's staring at Neku like he has no idea who he is, but either way this is the best thing that's happened all day.
… Pinky isn't here. That seems odd.
Lollipop stares at him, more expressionless than Neku'd ever seen, then nods faintly. "Hey, boss," he calls to the jukebox. "We got a live one. Should I send him through?"
"Certainly," the jukebox replies, and the voice might not be familiar (it sounds like a bit like a vocaloid, actually) but the tone sure is. "Apologies for the lack of warning," they - Joshua, probably - add insincerely. "I was a bit preoccupied."
Lollipop scowls over the top of his glasses at the jukebox, meeting Neku's gaze: can you believe this guy? Neku snorts - at least he's not the only one who knows the composer's full of shit - and snorts louder when Lollipop's glasses slide off his nose. Lollipop glares at him as he pushes his glasses back up, but Neku just smirks. Haha, loser.
The portal opens as the door to a side room; Lollipop points to it without looking, but Neku's already going for it. The hallway with the CAT mural seems shorter than before, somehow, and soon enough he's back in Joshua's throne room.
"Will you ever knock first, Sanae?" the composer drawls, voice reverberating through Neku's bones. "I am rather busy today, you know."
"Umm," Neku says intelligently. Sanae?
"Cat got your tongue?" the composer adds, chuckling. Neku hadn't actually seen the composer before, both taller and more androgynous than Joshua himself, and seeing him he could almost see why Kitaniji looked up to him so. All the power of Shibuya itself concentrated in one person, and what does it matter if the person in question is a bratty jerk? They're impressive all the same.
Neku clears his throat. "Um, Josh? This is Neku."
The composer stares, long and hard, then tilts his head and statics out and back into Joshua. Joshua keeps looking at Neku, not quite comprehending, then shakes it off. "Neku?" he repeats, as baffled as the other reapers. "Sanae, if this is some kind of joke -"
A familiar self-deprecating laugh as Hanekoma fades in, and Joshua stiffens. "Figured I'd try something new, boss," Mr H says, glancing between them as he sips his coffee, and Neku suspects he might have made a mistake.
"What did you do to Neku?" Joshua growls, and Neku gets between them half on instinct. If it came to a fight, he knows who he'd side with, but Shibuya feels like it's trying to knock him flat on his ass.
"I'm right here, you know," Neku tells an uncaring audience. His head's killing him.
"Helped him out a bit," Hanekoma says, flashing Neku a brief smile. Everything will be all right, and Neku relaxes just from that. "He wanted you out of his head, boss."
"So you inserted yourself in his?!" Joshua snarls, shifting to his canine form and leaping at Hanekoma's throat in one smooth motion, and they're at it. Neku doesn't know which one shoved him out of the way first, but Hanekoma - or the sibling cats that took his place - get first blood and second, and Neku's head's clearer than it's been all day. Joshua has speed on his side, but Hanekoma has numbers, and Neku doesn't know which way to jump, if anywhere.
They stop as abruptly as they started, Hanekoma wiping blood off his chin as he fades back to human and the fog returns in Neku's head, but Joshua yips an energy blast and Neku's new pin melts.
They're loud, louder than they'd been before Neku tried the pin, but Joshua looks so relieved that Neku has to smile at him, lying bastard be damned.
Wait, shit, no, he's still mad. "What the hell was that?" Neku screeches, and both Joshua and Hanekoma jump in maybe-shame as they mutually agree it didn't happen. Good for them, maybe, but Neku sure isn't ignoring it.
They both open their mouths to reply, then stop. Start again. Nearly talk over each other. Neku gestures to Mr H as tie-breaker.
"I was filtering your Music," Hanekoma says easily, "but it looks like the boss-man took offense." Joshua crosses his arms, unimpressed and unashamed, and Neku could almost not notice the faint splotch bleeding through his shirt.
"And you?" Neku growls, sure Joshua's excuse is going to be just as bullshit as ever.
He curls his lip up at Hanekoma, then looks at Neku straight-on. "Were you aware that to filter you, Sanae here would need to insert himself in your mind?" Joshua drawls, patting at his side. Neku watches the bloodstain fade as if it'd never been, not quite comprehending. Joshua sighs. "Neku. Think of Shiki."
… What about Shiki? She's doing fine, last Neku heard, and she's marketing a whole line of - "You cheating plagiarising bastard," Neku says with feeling, whirling around to glare at Hanekoma. "You messed with my mind?!"
Hanekoma shrugs. "Never bothered you before," he says lightly. "And you did want the kid out of your head."
Neku splutters. That is so far beside the point that - and both of them send him an it'll be fine imprint. Like hell it will! Joshua's is at least clearly Joshua doing it, though; he wouldn't have noticed it from Hanekoma if he hadn't been thinking about it, and hell.
Joshua averts his eyes and tosses him an apologetic just trying to help, while Hanekoma doesn't even have the decency to acknowledge it. Just watching him as kindly as ever, and isn't it strange how he's always seemed so profoundly trustworthy ….
Joshua's phone buzzes, and Neku's going to have to think about that later. "We've got two minutes," Joshua states, and Hanekoma nods slightly and vanishes. For what? Neku starts to ask, but Joshua cuts him off: "It's Day Seven, and Yashiro just passed the last pair. I can return you to the surface, or -"
- or Neku can see how Games usually end, and Joshua looks tired. Neku takes a deep breath, uncomfortably aware that no one else here needs to, and nods. "Can I watch?" he says, not sure what he's looking for, and Joshua slowly brightens.
Literally, too, as he slips into his composer form, and Joshua really is supernaturally beautiful like that. Neku loses a moment staring, and Joshua's phone beeps again. One minute.
"On My right," Joshua murmurs, and the capitals insert themselves. Joshua sprawls across the throne, regally amused, and Neku obediently stands to his side, cold and alert. A practice run in case he loses his mind and agrees to be Joshua's conductor, he figures, and the prospect's less terrifying than it should be.
He should try not to fidget. "They won't see you anyway," Joshua mutters. "They'll be too terrified of me," and he's neither enjoying it nor derisive. Just aware of the facts.
Aaaand time, Neku knows a moment early, as the entrance cracks and two wispy Players limp in, battered but not broken. Joshua flashes him an accompanying image of Yashiro - Pinky, apparently - collapsing at the bar in the lounge; apparently tasking the Players to erase the Game Master's up to the GM's discretion, and she's learned at least a little restraint.
Good for her, Neku thinks, and Joshua agrees with pride.
"We beat your stupid Game," says the taller in the pair, almost dragging her partner, and they look so fragile and pathetic from this end. Are they always like this?
"I want to go home," the other one says, and oh god he is way too young to be here.
"That depends on you," Joshua intones, and Neku kind of wants to strangle him even though he knows it's an act. (It is an act, right?) "What makes you think My Shibuya is a better place with you in it?"
And they wince, but they don't run. Not like they might have a week ago. Neku listens more to Joshua than to them, as Joshua pushes them to put what they know into words. That they can rely on other people, but they can look after themselves, too.
It's not unlike what he'd done the second week, Neku realises, Joshua casting himself as the villain so Neku would have to develop his position, and it's not kind but it isn't quite cruel, either. Just harsh the way the Underground always is.
`Do you think I should make them write essays instead?` Joshua quips, and Neku coughs to cover a snort. The Players jump, but true to Joshua's word, they don't seem to quite realise Neku's there.
Eventually Joshua nods slightly. "Very good," he says, smiling slightly. "You pass." Neku lets out the breath he didn't realise he was holding. "Now, to return your entry fees …." Joshua snaps his fingers and Neku knows that facial expression: getting memories returned or whatever Joshua's doing hurts.
"And our lives?" the short one says bravely.
Joshua chuckles; Neku punches him, but ow fucking shit is he made out of rock?! Joshua flicks him in the arm as revenge: `Do try not to make me look bad in front of the children, dear.`
Fine, whatever, asshole.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather become a reaper?" Joshua says, curious, and Neku really wants to hit him again. He would deserve it. The Players think it's even less funny than Neku does, and Joshua sighs. "Very well, then, two resurrections coming right up …."
Joshua snaps his fingers, and they're gone.
"… is that it?" Neku says after a moment, but Joshua's not listening. Too busy adjusting people's memories to account for the missing - week and a half, Shibuya fills in; the Game didn't start until they were in limbo for a few days. Neku shuts up and and starts to move, meaning to leave him to it, but Joshua's hand jerks out and catches the hem of Neku's shirt.
`Stay,` Joshua sends absently, too preoccupied to work out how talking works, and Neku instead just sits down where he is. Joshua radiates gratified amusement in response, and it's sort of nice. Horribly awkward, but nice.
Eventually Joshua sighs and relaxes, and Neku glances up at him. Joshua looks exhausted, eyes half-lidded and wings slumped, and Neku's surprised enough to even see the latter that he reaches his hand out and -
- Joshua jumps, suddenly alert, and Neku yelps. Not injured, just startled, but there's teeth marks on his hand and a bit of soot.
"Don't," Joshua manages, gulping, "ever surprise a reaper like that, Neku."
"Sorry," Neku says, quiet. Joshua stares down at him, a bit predatory, then sighs, point made.
"You can touch them if you'd like," he concedes, and Neku brightens. Neku's seen plenty of reapers, but Joshua's are different, smaller and with white feathers, and he's only seen them the once. Neku lightly but firmly touches one (he doesn't want it to tickle) and -
- rewriting things for the victors is always so tedious; must they always rush the funerals? At least this pair was presumed missing, but honestly now, it's not like the Game is new and Sanae could not possibly have picked worse timing if he'd tried. What is he thinking; of course Sanae did it on purpose, but that's just plain rude -
- Neku lifts his hand up. What the hell ….
"It's not everything," Joshua explains quickly, not looking at Neku. "There's usually a bit of a delay, to keep either person from falling into a feedback loop, but - yes."
He's blushing. Neku can't even see his face and Neku still knows he's blushing. All this mess and Joshua's still blushing like a teenager worried that they're going to ruin it with their first crush.
Which … he might as well be, Neku realises, technical age aside. Joshua hasn't exactly had a normal life, and maybe if he asks …. "How old were you when you became the composer?"
"Fifteen," Joshua replies without a trace of shame. "I cheated."
And Neku remembers being fifteen: he was an idiot. Neku lowers his hand again: this won't be kind, but it's no worse than Joshua's done. Brushing against the feathers, he feels/remembers settling in at WildKat, standard-issue matchbox revolver in hand, waiting for the then-composer to come in for a chat. It's so hard to notice anything Sanae's trying to hide; he and his are either safe or threat with nothing in between.
He did say he cheated, Neku, there's no need to be like that. Neku clears the block in his throat and asks: "Did you mess with my head?"
Joshua flinches, but he flinches up and into Neku's hand, holding himself there as Neku tries to back away.
Yes, Joshua answers, and he's terrified but knew it was coming, even kind of wanted it out in the open, and he tosses the examples to Neku before Neku can recoil. Neku considers them, expecting the worst, but … it's mostly just clearing his head when he wanted to keep calm, pushing down doubts when Joshua knew the anxiety'd be useless. And scanning him. Lots of scanning him when Neku wouldn't have wanted him to, but nothing Joshua'd consider invasive, and even by Neku's standards …
… he still hasn't been that bad. Not as good as he'd hoped, and they're probably going to have another fight over it, but better than even his most optimistic expectations. `I didn't know what you wanted from me,` Joshua says quietly, and Neku lets go.
Deep breath, Neku. He's completely aware of Joshua leaving his reaction to himself, and it doesn't help. Not after a week of never quite being alone in his head, and then whatever - Hanekoma had done. (Neku pushes down the familiar address; he's not Neku's friend. Not really.)
Neku smiles at him, a bit weakly, but Joshua isn't even paying attention. Too sure he knows everything and that Neku's still pissed, maybe past where he can fix. (For a clairvoyant, Joshua can be really obtuse.)
So Neku just sighs and pats his wing, trying to tune out whatever he hears of Joshua, and says, "It's okay."
Joshua looks at him like he's stupid, which is pretty unfair. "You … are aware I've been plotting around you for years, are you not, " he says flatly.
"Yeah, I got that," Neku says, but as far as he can tell, Joshua was pretty much just trying to scheme their friendship. Which … is patently ridiculous, and an excellent example of what the hell, Josh, but something that Neku can live with. Even the conductor thing … Neku suspects he might just be lonely. This guy. "I'm not going to forgive you if you kill me again, though."
Joshua leans into the touch, mollified. "Well, then," he says, deceptively light, "so long as we're clear."
"And I'm still mad about that," Neku adds, but Joshua just barks a laugh. Of course he is; Joshua hardly expected otherwise.
Something occurs to Joshua and he pulls away, not willing to trust this to Neku's shields. "Is it only my murder attempts you're upset over, or all of them?"
… the fuck. "All of them," Neku states, glowering. Did that really need to be asked? "But especially the successful ones."
"Oh, you're not dead now," Joshua snaps without heat. "No, I meant - are you, for example, still mad at Mr Hanekoma?"
Oh, just say 'Sanae' already; Neku knows he wants to. But Joshua's looking at him intently. "… Mr H hasn't tried to kill me," Neku says experimentally.
Joshua bursts out laughing. "Neku," he manages, "Sanae's tried to kill you today, much less all those times in the Game!"
The fuck?!
"That pin? That pin made you sound like him when he isn't being unsuspicious, so the reapers would see you as a threat to our UG," he explains, still laughing uproariously. Gee, at least the concept of Neku dying is funny to someone.
Joshua sobers. "And then I would have to decide whether I wished to resurrect you, on a day I'm already exhausted."
Neku frowns. "You would, wouldn't you?"
Joshua looks away.
"Joshua …." This is something important, and he needs to know.
"I don't know," Joshua admits, wings carefully drooping within Neku's reach, though Neku doesn't take the bait. "I would like to think so, but I can't say. If I thought I could win your trust back again …." He trails off.
… well, Neku appreciates the honesty, even if the answer sucks. "You couldn't," he states, though even he isn't sure. Isolation can do a lot to a person.
Joshua chuckles mirthlessly. "Better for us both that I not have the temptation, hmm?"
Neku sure can agree with that. "… and during the Game?" he asks warily. He so doesn't want to hear this, but the not-knowing is worse.
Joshua looks thoughtful. "I think it's better if you hear about that from him, don't you agree?"
Actually, Neku thinks it's better if he hears about it at all, but Joshua smirks and adds, "Give me a week to prepare, and I'll drag it out of him if I have to. Just, Neku …."
He trails off. "Yeah?" Neku prods.
"Don't think too ill of him; he always does what he thinks is for the best," Joshua says, and he might even believe it. "Only … sometimes he thinks what's best for himself and what's best for Shibuya are the same thing, hm?"
Neku can't decide if Joshua's one to talk or if it takes one to know one, but either way, that's kind of a bad sign. "I'll … take that under advisement," he settles on, and at least Joshua accepts that.
"Very well," he says. "Now hurry off before half my reapers spam my phone protesting your erasure," and Joshua snaps his fingers and deposits Neku above one of the couches in the lounge.
Literally above the couch, that fucking asshole, and Neku lands directly on top of a foul-smelling lump. Groooooooss.
"Who the fuck is line on me?!" Pi Face roars, and oh god, this is closer to Pi Face than Neku has ever wanted to be. Ew, ew, ew, ewwwwww.
Neku scrambles off him, and oh god he's not even wearing a shirt, and he was wrong: the Grim Heaper isn't tattooed. That's just grease. Does he even bathe?!
"Cat puns, Minamimoto?" one of the reapers drawls. "What depths are you falling to meow?"
Neku stifles a laugh, and he's not the only one. "I said line, not lion!" Pi Face squawks. "Can't you people differentiate these things?!"
"It ain't our faults you suck, kitty!" Pinky crows, to general agreement. Oh, reapers.
Neku almost thinks he could get out without them paying an iota of attention to him, but then Pi Face and 777 clap their arms around his shoulders and he's trapped. He's trapped and he's going to die from Pi Face's stench.
"It's Phones!" they proclaim in unison, though 777 winces at the indignity of agreeing with Pi Face. "Hey, everybody, say hi to Phones!"
The reapers variously manage the least sincere claps and cheers Neku's ever heard, which is less disturbing than the alternative. This is worse than going shopping. Lollipop flashes him a victory sign. "… Hi," Neku says, since they seem to be waiting for something. "I'm still not dead?"
Another round of cheers and clapping, slightly more sincere this time. "Congratulations," Pinky says drily. "Now get the fuck out."
Neku concurs wholeheartedly, and does.