Shiro, Kuro

~ 30 Forbidden, Joshua x Rhyme ~

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: Wow, I'm so touched that some of you are still around and reading this! You have no idea how much I appreciate the support! This is theme 13/30, by the way, so we're halfway there. Expect MAJOR fluff at the halfway point, one way or another, *evil laugh*.

Theme 21: Wait

"Joshua…are you going to the hanami?"

"…Hanami?"

"…I invited you in Shinjuku Gyoen. You said you'd think about it…Are you going?"

It had been an innocent conversation. He had been lying on the couch in the study, sorting through the various text messages from his Reapers that the person he had sent to cover Kariya's work temporarily had deemed important enough to forward on to him, looking for a message from Hanekoma. She had been reading some novel or another and texting someone every now and then. He assumed it was Shiki or her brother checking in on her.

The conversation had started out innocent, until of course, Rhyme steamrolled over his reply of "I'm still thinking about it…" with a smile, a nod, and a question regarding what kind of dumplings she should bring to the hanami, and how many she should bring to feed four or five people, just in case he decided to come.

The next thing he knew, he was on his way to Miyashita Park, three boxes of dango in his hand as she walked ahead of him, her hands behind her back as she hummed a playful tune to herself.

He still wasn't sure how he ended up in this mess. It had been a manipulative, sneaky, and underhanded move on her part to con him into going.

…He was very impressed.

And a little worried that he might be rubbing off on her too much.

The sakura trees came into view, in the peak of their blooming season. The ground was coated with light pink flower petals, and beneath one of the trees, sitting on a deep brown blanket, were three people he recognized easily. Neku sat with his back against the trunk of the tree and his arms crossed behind his head, his eyes closed and his signature earphones hanging around his neck. Beside him sat Shiki. She looked different from how she had been in the Game, but that was over a year ago. Her legs were crossed, and her hands were in her lap as she laughed about something.

And then of course, there was Beat, scanning the crowd of people from left to right and then doing it all over again. He looked almost like a worried dog, pacing back and forth.

Rhyme immediately picked up speed, running over to them.

"Hey, everyone!" she said. "Sorry we're late!"

Neku frowned, opening his eyes. "We?" he asked.

Joshua smirked.

Showtime.

He stepped out from behind Rhyme, one hand on his head. "My, my, Neku," he said. "Forgotten me already?"

Shiki's eyes widened. "Joshua?" she asked. Beat jumped to his feet, looking positively murderous. Neku's eyes narrowed briefly, almost imperceptibly, before he sat up. "I didn't forget," he said. "I just didn't expect to see you here."

"Little Rhyme asked me out," said Joshua, his smirk widening as he placed one hand on his cheek. "And I'm afraid I just couldn't say no."

Literally. Who knew Rhyme had a devious side?

"Rhyme did…?" Neku's eyes flicked over to Rhyme.

Rhyme smiled brightly up at Neku. "I saw him standing near the park and thought he might like to join us. Is that okay?"

"Yes, I hope I'm not intruding on anything," said Joshua in a teasing tone.

Neku frowned, glancing at Shiki and Beat. "It's alright with me," said Shiki with a small smile.

"How about you, Daisukeno—."

"It's Beat!" shouted Beat. "And it ain't damn okay!" He looked at Rhyme. "No way. No way in hell is that prissy bastard crashing ou—."

"I brought the dango," interrupted Joshua, setting the three boxes in front of Beat with a smirk.

There was a pause as Beat glanced from the boxes of dumplings to Joshua and back to the dumplings.

XxXxX

"I still don't like 'im," said Beat through a mouthful of dumplings, his arms and legs crossed and chopsticks in his right hand.

Rhyme giggled from beside him, reaching for another skewer of dango. "It's alright, nii-chan," she said. "It's only for an hour."

Beat muttered something she couldn't understand through another bite of dumpling. Rhyme smiled, taking a small nibble out of her own as she watched Joshua continue to tease Neku. It was nice, having them all out here under the sakura trees without anything to worry about. Considering how the past few days had been, it was a welcome change.

She frowned, looking around the park. She wasn't sure if Beat and the others saw him, or if they were just ignoring him, but Tenho was standing at the edge of the park, his hands in the pockets of his signature red jacket. A handful of Noise symbols hovered around as well. Her fingers drifted over the Player pin in her pocket. She still needed it to scan, even though Joshua was saying that there were ways to scan without the pin. She frowned. She had almost forgotten that it was about time for the next Game.

But without Kariya and Uzuki…

"Hello, Rhyme?" asked Shiki, leaning over her. "Earth to Rhyme…"

Rhyme blinked, nearly falling backwards as she looked up to see Shiki's eyes right in front of her. "Ah—um—Shiki—," she said, nervously. "What's up?"

"You've been spaced out for a while," said Shiki. "You didn't hear me when I asked you what you thought of my new design."

Rhyme blinked. "New…design?" she asked.

Shiki grinned, holding up a sketchbook for her to see. A gust of wind blew through the air, snatching one of the loose pieces of paper from the book and sending it flying off into the park. Shiki let out a shout.

"My design!" she said.

Without thinking, Rhyme jumped to her feet and ran off after it. The little piece of paper floated just in front of her, heading towards the overpass. She heard Neku and Beat shout after her as she ran towards the overpass. The sheet of paper drifted just over the railing, and Rhyme grabbed onto the railing with one hand, jumping up onto the concrete and reaching for it.

An arm suddenly hooked around her waist, pulling her back down and against someone's chest. Rhyme let out a squeak of surprise as a hand reached out alongside hers, motioning to the sheet of paper. There was a small spark of blue light, and the paper zoomed back into the hand.

"I thought you didn't want to die again," said Joshua, his breath tickling the outside of her ear.

Rhyme blinked, suddenly stiffening as she looked down the drop over the Underpass, her breath catching in her throat. She slowly released the railing and Joshua took a deep breath. She could feel that against her skin, sending tingles down her spine for an entirely different reason. She swallowed, feeling her face beginning to heat up as he pulled her from the railing, lowering her back to street level. He stared down at her for a moment, his violet eyes uncharacteristically serious, before he took a step back, unfolding the piece of paper and taking a look.

"…I think she's drawing too many influences from D+B for this one," he said, folding up the piece of paper. "If I owned their brand, I'd sue."

Right. Shiki's fashion design. Rhyme took a deep breath, slumping against the railing as she looked down at the Underpass.

Miyashita Underpass. The place where I…

"What were you thinking?" asked Joshua, his voice shaking her back to reality. She looked up at him.

"I was…" She smiled slightly. "I guess I wasn't," she finished, with a nervous giggle.

"I gathered that," he said, motioning with his head towards where Beat, Neku, and Shiki would be waiting. "We should head back before they send out a search party." He sounded amused. Rhyme smiled at him, nodding as she let him lead the way back.

"You're having fun," she said with a smile, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Fun?" asked Joshua. He smirked at her. "Well, I suppose. Neku is always amusing to toy around with."

"That's good," said Rhyme with a smile, skipping once so that she took a step ahead. "I'm glad."

"Why did you invite me, Rhyme?" asked Joshua teasingly, taking another step so that he was level with her. He smirked at her.

Rhyme smiled back. "It should be obvious," she said, giggling.

He raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten me."

"You haven't checked your phone in almost an hour now," said Rhyme with a smile.

There was surprise in his expression, although it was carefully guarded. That was enough of a triumph for her. It had been three days since Kariya and Uzuki had been attacked, and in that time, Joshua hadn't gone more than twenty minutes without checking his phone for a text message from Mr. H. Despite the fact that Mr. H promised he would get in touch with Joshua by whatever means necessary when they finally woke up.

He was worried. It was hard to tell with Joshua, because he hid everything so well. But Rhyme had the feeling that he didn't like not knowing what was going on, not understanding this enemy. He liked to always be in control of the situation—influencing it, nudging it where he wanted it to go.

And he couldn't do that this time. Despite the fact that he would never admit it…

"…I thought you needed something to get your mind off everything," said Rhyme.

The wait had been difficult. And even now, they were still waiting. Even Rhyme was getting worried, because she did want to know what was happening. Before it came to them.

"I see…" said Joshua. "So you thought coming out here and letting me torment Neku would make me feel better?"

"Well, that depends," said Rhyme.

"On what?"

"Did it work?"

There was a long pause. Joshua didn't answer, his hands in his pockets. There was a thoughtful frown on his face, as if he was thinking everything over. Rhyme waited as they crossed the street back into the park, before smiling.

"…Also, I thought you were getting a little lonely," she said.

Joshua looked up at her. "Lonely," he repeated, his tone incredulous.

"Yep," said Rhyme, with a bright smile.

"…You're insane."

"Maybe." Rhyme stuck her tongue out at him, before running ahead of him to reach Shiki, Neku, and Beat. She grinned, handing Shiki back her design. "Here you go," she said, sitting back down and scolding Beat for eating the dango that she had dropped.

Joshua watched her from a distance, a frown on his face as he slowly walked back to the group. Lonely. What a silly girl. Where did she get ideas like this?

…But he had to admit…he was no longer thinking of Kariya, Uzuki, and that Matsuda woman anymore. That had been her intention all along, after all. His characteristic smirk appeared on his face as he reached Neku.

"I hope you didn't miss me too much, Neku," he said with a smirk.

Neku rolled his eyes, shoving him away slightly as he turned back to talk to Shiki about something. Joshua grinned inwardly. Neku really was too easy to rile up.

He turned towards Rhyme, watching as she opened up another box of dango and scolded Beat for eating one box by himself, smiling at Shiki as she giggled over Shiki's design.

He would never admit it. He'd never say it out loud.

But…he did appreciate it.

And he had a feeling that Rhyme knew that too.

XxXxX

Later that night, after the ramen dinner that Beat had treated them too at Rhyme's insistence and using Neku's money after he had eaten almost all the dango, Joshua's phone beeped. He was standing in his room about to change for bed when the phone on his desk suddenly lit up. Joshua frowned, quickly buttoning his shirt back up as he crossed the room and picked it up, his fingers barely staying steady despite his anticipation as he opened the message.

Mr. Hanekoma had sent him two words.

They're awake.

Review Responses:

Jaunea – Thank you! Actually, it was your review that made me decide to continue it, since your review was the most recent. And I love A Trip To Remember. I read it while trying to think of what to write for this one! I'm glad you like it, and yeah, trying to ease Josh into a relationship gradually is not easy when he's being so damn resistant to all of this . Oh well, haha.

The Dani-Chan Replika 2.06 – I forgot how much I liked this pairing until I went back to this too! I'm glad you're still around and that you're still willing to read, thank you for the support!

AntiSora – OMG, it's you! I remember you! Thank you very much for continuing to support this story! You're one of the people that consistently reviews every chapter, and I think that's awesome. I'm glad you like how protective Josh is being ^_^ He's acting a little difficult for me. If he was anyone else, there'd be fluff by now, haha.

iandin123 – Soon enough, dear, soon enough *evil laugh* I just have to ease Josh over these reservations he has…or make something happen that's so traumatic he forgets about them entirely. Hmm…decisions, decisions. Anyway, I'm glad you like it! Thank you for following this story!

Notes:

None in this chapter.