Title: Logical Requiem
Characters: Reincarnated!Sho/Reincarnated!Neku (Father/Son relationship—not pairings!)
Rating: M-Mild Violence
Warnings: Spoilers for end of the game. Takes place 300 years after the official game.
Summary: Sho tries his life anew as a math teacher aged 22, after completing his course in Uni. With the present and past holding a missing link, it is soon evident that his life so far, had been hurdles that even he can't recall. One day, he finds Pi-Face's cap beyond the Shibuya River, only then does his life as an unwilling trouble magnet begins, the first signs being that a familiar student with headphones and a sketchy past enters his first session...
Notes: Co-written with Houkai-Amplifier. (DeviantART)
QED means quod erat demonstrandum. Look it up. ;D
Known Characters involved in this Chapter:Neku, Sho, Reaper!Yammer.
-Day 4-
The bright sunrise was enough to disturb Neku from his sleep. The near empty street illuminated by the sun was the first sight that he witnessed as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. His phone buzzed, and he took a look at the mission.
Erase a minimum of 5 Pig Noise in 3h
Fail, and Face Erasure.
Note: No other Noise will be around today
take it as a breather.
The player and pact partner who erases
Pig Mazurka will not get the timer
the following day.
~The Reapers
Doesn't seem too bad...
Neku flinched at the shooting pain of the timer appearing. He looked beside him to see Sho still sleeping. He nudged him a little. "Hey, its morning..."
"Five more minutes, sir! I'll get there when I get there!" Sho wined somewhat quietly in his sleep and tossed onto his other side. He came around after a few more nudges and sat up reluctantly, almost freaked when he saw the timer.
"Strange... I didn't feel the byte..." Sho looked around until he saw his partner. "Morning Neku." he smiled.
"Uh, morning." Neku said as he got up. "The mission's not that bad. It's a pig hunt today," he continued.
Sho dusted himself off. "Who the factor keeps moving us?"
Then he flipped open his mobile, his golden eyes glinting with mischief, "We need to find that pig! Pig Mazurka, the king of pigs. He may not attack, but the pin's effect we get is worth more than the yen it pays out!"
"Hm? What does the pin do?" Neku asked as he crossed his arms."A better question is how we get to it?" he continued.
"Well, the pin we get from Mazurka is the 'Pig', the Grandmother Lode. Worth a lot than whatever job pays you. When you wear it, the pin drop rate from enemies greatly increase. In exchange, however, you stop receiving experience in battles and growth for your pins..."
Neku's blank stare told Sho to shut up with the mouth running. "Chances of finding it today are in the hands of Lady Luck, I guess..." he shrugged.
Neku scratches his neck "Great. Well at least there won't be any other Noise running around." he said with a little bit of relief. The mission seemed easy enough, but the time limit could be a problem if they wanted to find the Mazurka.
They started to wander around, scanning almost every corner of the region.
Sho kept looking around. Of course, the walls were up. "We need to get started on some pigs. A minimum of 5, or we'll face Erasure."
Neku nodded and engaged in a battle. They came face to face with a Pig Samba, staring at them with fright. Neku shrugged and forced a row of flames its way, expecting a direct hit. He was confident that this wouldn't be much of a problem.
The flames cleared up and he caught a glimpse of the pig, unharmed and running in the distance. "What?? Get back here!" he yelled at the pig as he started chasing after it. It quickly managed to escape however. "..."
This went on a few times over. Fifth round wound up the same as the first, and that left a bitter taste of hopelessness. "You're rushing things Neku. Need a plan first, or we'll have zetta zilch when the countdown crashes." Sho grumbled bitterly.
Neku crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? Well how do you s'pose we fight these?" he complained.
"The world is made up of numbers. Keep looking and you'll find your desired solution. Easy said than done.
"Have you ever thought about changing the pins, or even seen a few evolved? Explore the psychs a little." Sho suggested with a shrug, "Wouldn't hurt. And... We've wasted 15m on trying to crunch the same fast digit."
Since beginning the game Neku hadn't really explored the powers of all the pins gained from the battles they both fought. He took out a collection of gained pins and looked at them. Hrm...
He shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to give these other pins a try, I guess."
"Extra pins should be thrown into the bin icon on the phone; gives you extra yen in return. Zetta convenient, no?" Sho smiled, as he began tinkering with the features on his phone, and doing just that with the pins he oh-so happened to pick up. "The output of yen increases if the pin has been mastered, just like Algebra."
After 'cleaning' his phone out, his smirk remained there for a while. "Chosen the new set of Pins 2 try?"
Neku nodded. "I think it might work," he said with a bit of a smile.
They tried again, confronting the Pig Samba, and at last... SUCCESS!
--
Three pigs down, more than 2 hours to go.
Apparently, shopping, Tin Pin, and eating had been thrown into the mix in order to get past the walls, and Sho was getting touché. The sooner they can find Pig Mazurka, the better. And the sweet bonus, no timer for the Player to erase it tomorrow, concreted his ambition to find it before the timer hit zero.
They were in Towa Records now. Sure enough, there was the red hooded Reaper guarding the wall to Miyashita Underpass. "You ask the Radian..." Sho murmured, "I am NOT playing another round of Tin Pin..."
Neku crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? Then he'll just let us go by, right?" he asked with a bit of a smirk.
"No. More. TIN PIN. QED." Sho growled like a child did when he didn't get his own way.
The Reaper spotted Neku and Sho approaching him and his wall. What an odd couple for a Pact partner...
He'll make Sho pay for thrashing Tenho at Tin Pin... by humiliating his partner. "You want to pass this wall?"
Neku nodded. "We wouldn't bother talking to you if we didn't..."
The Reaper did a bit of quick thinking before he smirked. It was creepy, seeing that the cap he wore under the red garment completely shaded his eyes. "You, orangey locks with the headphones!" he said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Neku.
Sho quirked an eyebrow; this Reaper had a goatee, while all the other red Reapers did not. Must be a sign of 'just being yourself'.
Neku's smirk was wiped off his face. This can't be good...
"Me?"
Sho rolled his eyes. And here it comes... be zetta grateful I said 'I told you so'!
The Reaper's grin grew wider. "I want you to dress head-to-toe in D+B! Think carefully; there isn't much for men there!"
"...what?"
Neku was taken off guard. This did not sound good...
The hell does he mean? What kind of sick Reaper is this...?
Even Sho blinked in surprise. He coughed, before blurting out, "What the heck do you mean? No Tin Pin? No food? You're zetta joshing, please say you are...?"
The wall Reaper only grinned in response.
Coughing to clear his throat again, Sho nudged Neku on the shoulder. "Closest D+B store is in Molco. We want those piggies iterated and get by the wall, may as well learn and follow."
Neku said nothing. Damnit... Why me?
He followed Sho reluctantly to Molco's D+B store. He sighed. "...Can't we find another way...?"
Sho looked back at Neku, a look of slight worry clear in his eyes. "If you don't want to pass, who am I to stop you?" he said bluntly, "Then again, trying on clothes hasn't been a desired past time in life."
"...Let's just get this over and done with," Neku said quietly. He wandered around the store. After looking at everything twice, he picked out a pair of skinny jeans and a studded belt. He had difficulty choosing a top that wouldn't compromise his taste or even gender, for that matter.
Sho chatted with the owner, soon remembering that about 300 years ago, or so to say, a relative named Tsubasa used to run the store. Strange enough, he didn't reveal his surname. Sho asked for a photo, but got hopeless results; nothing.
He turned and watched Neku trying to find something not so... confusing, just to play it safe. "Be sure to try them on, Phones."
Neku whined a little. "...Yeah, I know..."
He scouted around some more and found a yellow parka underneath a pile of clothes. He took it with him to the change room.
--
A few moments later, he emerged from the change room in the new clothes, looking down, embarrassed. "..."
This didn't feel right. These clothes were out of his character, but they didn't necessarily look bad on him.
Sho continued to pace around the shop, or chatting casually to the owner.
To the teacher's opinion, his partner didn't take very long in the change room, and when Neku finally got out, he personally thought he didn't look too bad.
"Not bad, Phones. You're a lot braver than I thought." Sho smiled, hoping to make Neku feel better about himself. "So... who's paying?"
Neku responded with a quiet "Thanks... I guess," while looking away. He approached the counter, walking a little awkwardly in the jeans and laid down the right amount of yen. Once payed, they thanked the owner and left the store, making their way back to the Reaper.
They made their way back, slowly. For several reasons unknown, Sho tried suppressing a chuckle. Is it the look, where he admitted that Neku didn't look so bad? Or was it the way he was taking it in?
"Ease up, Phones. It's your attitude that's getting to me..." the sentence was followed by a quiet snort.
Neku grumbled to himself most of the way back. It had taken a little longer than expected, but they had eventually made their way back to the smirking Reaper.
"You happy now?" Neku snapped, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I am amused," the wall Reaper chuckled, "But I'm not bringing down the wall. I knew you from another—" he didn't get to finish. Apparently, he had forgotten how touché Neku could get when he's humiliated.
Sho took a quick step forward to restrain Neku from attacking the wall Reaper.
The wall Reaper removed his hood, revealing his somewhat unkempt, but familiar face. He smiled a little in the hopes that Neku would remember who he was.
Neku stood back. What...? He took a closer look. He swears he had seen this person before...
"Y-Yammer?" Neku said in disbelief. He stood there, a little stunned.
Yammer nodded and grinned, happy to see that someone can remember him.
Sho lets go of Neku, knowing this shock discovery was enough to cancel the flaring rage from within.
"Yammer, huh?" he mused, turning to Neku, "You 2 met before?"
Neku hesitated a little, remembering a hazy past. He nodded. "I think I bet him at Tin Pin once."
"ONLY once." Yammer added stingingly.
Neku looked up in shock, as if he had just realised something. "S-so why are you here then? And why a Reaper?" he interrogated.
Yammer got a little quieter. "I was in the area... I'd rather be on the winning team too, even if it does mean staying in this place." he trailed off. A certain glint was in his eye as he looked up, silent. He looked back down at Neku with a little smirk. "Besides, someone's gotta keep Tin Pin alive, yeah?"
Sho stood there, soon understanding the situation. Yammer was the kid who kept modifying his pins, but neither crossed paths often in the past.
Neku was hesitant to ask the next question, yet curiosity drives him forward. "And... what about Shooter?" he hesitated to ask.
Yammer stopped for a moment. "Shooter didn't last in the game," he said solemnly.
What Neku had deduced was right. "...Sorry." he said quietly.
Yammer smiled a little to mask the memories. He removed the wall. "New look suits you, you know." he said softly with sincerity. Neku smiled back a little. The time was unfortunately running out.
With the wall down, the two could finally move on. Sho knew what it was like to gain some and lose some friends, at the same tender age Neku was on.
"Thanks again, Yammer." he said quietly, glancing up with a small smile.