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)
IMPORTANT! Eri has been renamed Ayaka, and was the one who provided 'the Shiki reference' in Chapter 24, 'Let Me In'. No, she isn't like either Shiki or Eri, but she and Neku go to the same school, and have been shy on meeting eachother. To Neku, it was 'forget one day, remember the next'.
Known Characters involved in this Chapter: Neku, Sho, Neku's Aunt, Eri (Known as Ayaka), Joshua.
-Day 6-
Neku nodded again, beginning to take a defensive stance. He took a brief scan of the area, and to his surprise, found Noise symbols scattered in every direction, along with a large amount concentrated around the hospitals' direction. He ceased scanning, warning Sho with some distress. "This doesn't look so good..."
Sho carefully looked around, agreeing with Neku's doubt. "Procrastination isn't a digit you want in your equation. Think positive, and I'm sure we'll make it through." he advised cautiously.
Once the pair designated a Noise on its own, they were soon face to face with two Jungle Boomers, a Carcinofolk and, as predicted, a Death Metal Mink. And the lone Taboo Noise itself looked treacherous.
Neku kept his guard up, somewhat intimidated by the group of Noise. "...S-should we leave the Mink to last?" he asked Sho without taking his focus off of the Noise.
Personally, Sho agreed with Neku, with half of his attention focused on calculating. "This looks like it requires the double plane. Don't touch it unless you have the Light Puck." he advised before vanishing, "But call me if you have trouble!"
Neku nodded uncertainly. As Sho vanished, he singled out the Boomers. They were quick enough to be a pain, and packed a strong punch. Take out the Boomers, fight the Carcinofolk... Then take on the Mink...
The Boomers bounded straight towards Neku, one leaping into the sky above. Neku prepared to execute a long ranged psych to the Boomer coming towards him, then ran out of the way to dodge the second Boomer attacking from above. "They... They're fast!"
Sho payed equal attention to the weakened Boomer and the Carcinofolk, occasionally counterattacking the sinister Mink while in possession of the Light Puck. He wasn't so fortunate to dodge the second Boomer, which landed on the teacher's back, knocking the wind out of him. Yep... this will take a while...
The Noise was a mild annoyance compared to the Mink. However, once erased, Neku and Sho fought the Mink on the one plane. With careful, but strong movements, they were able to land some decent hits on the Noise. However, its power was far greater than once believed. It managed to deal much more damage than the average Mink, and at twice the speed.
It was a tedious battle to test their skills. The Mink had been erased, leaving Neku out of breath and worn down. If that was only one Noise...
--
The same approached style to the battles ahead went on. Sho heaved a sigh, "This is like trying to figure out a rhetorical question... I feel like a hamster in a wheel..."
He scanned again, and groaned miserably, "Head's up Neku! Reinforcements have arrived!"
The exhausted Grim Heaper stopped scanning, and wearily looked around. A voice, a peculiar one at that, eventually weaved its way up the street.
Neku scanned the area to see the massive amount of Noise, but not the cause. "Great..."
Sho strained his focus on the peculiar voice, following it until he was standing outside of Mexican Hotdog. With it held such a negative vibe, the teacher felt as though he was standing far too close to a loud speaker, with its volume maxed out. The voice, however, wasn't loud itself.
The speaker had separated herself and a group of teens away from the Shibuyan hustle, causing some attention to the argument. The same teens Neku saw from Day 3 had been held up by Neku's Aunt.
"You don't get it, do you? No respect for elders." Neku's Aunt grumbled curtly, "All I want to do is get back home. Don't I have rights to complain about my ungrateful antisocial nephew?"
The group of girls stood their ground, staring the old woman down. "Be grateful that you have a nephew." one of the more outspoken members of the group stepped forward. This was enough for Neku's Aunt to go off.
Neku had lost his focus and stopped scanning. He looked around to source the cause of the noise, however the crowd blocked his view from the true cause. He caught a glimpse of the teen who had confronted his Aunt.
"Ayaka?" he called out without thinking twice. He had surprised himself. He had remembered where he saw this person before. She was in the class next to Neku for a few lessons. They hardly spoke, if at all.
Sho continued to watch carefully and listen. How could Neku live with such a horrid relative? About a month after... Wait... I can't remember...
Though promptly forgotten as part of his entry fee, Sho rang Neku's Aunt one month after he didn't show up at school. Not 30 seconds into the call, and the Aunt rudely hung up, assuming Sho was a cruel teacher, or the principle, informing that he was going to expel Neku.
He quickly found his partner and went over to stand by him.
"A nephew that never said his thanks! A nephew who got himself expelled three times! If he lives to tell the tale once he's out of his coma..." the Aunt violently retaliated, making her voice heard throughout Spain Hill.
No one else in the UG heard what she said next, but Joshua was amongst the crowd, astounded by the Aunt's wishes. She would rather have Neku dead for good.
This called for drastic action; to imprint a message in her head and get her to leave the location for the time being, and save the girls from humiliation.
Joshua focused on Neku's Aunt, a rush of negativity flowed into his mind. Bearing with it, he persevered. He made an attempt to imprint 'silent gratitude' into her mind.
Meanwhile, Neku kept close to Sho while trying to see around the crowd for a glimpse of Ayaka and her group again.
The word 'silent gratitude' entered the Aunt's thoughts, immediately silencing her open rage. Looking somewhat embarrassed, she quickly gathered a bit of self control and made a quick exit towards Tipsy Tose Hall.
Sho watched silently, feeling a small energy spike within the crowd. He followed the feeling, eventually finding Joshua standing in the masses of bodies that were fast dispersing, as if nothing of the sort happened. The teen quickly put away his mobile and left with them.
Now only the group of girls remained behind, including Ayaka, all trying to figure out what happened. That was... zetta unusual...
As the crowd left, Neku caught a glimpse of Ayaka again. A familiar face in such an alienated crowd was a rare comfort for him. He wandered in her direction, happy to see her for this reason. "H-hey...!" he called out.
She stood there in thought before one of her friends took her by the arm, persuading her to walk with the rest of the group. Neku's pace quickened, but the group were slowly becoming unreachable.
Sho watched, a little disheartened that the teen had already forgot that they could not be heard.
"Phones! We're in the UG, remember? And we have a Mission to finish!!" he hollered out, feeling regret afterwards.
Neku slowed to a stop. He turned around, somewhat disappointed. "Y-yeah, I know..." he answered, returning to Sho's side. Neku scanned the area again, a little surprised to find a decrease in the number of Noise symbols.
Sho also scanned the area, smirking. "Looks like the scales have turned to our favour... let's mop the floor with them zetta sorry excuse of those Taboo Noises! And then to clock off early so we're fit 2 face Day 7! The magical day where Reapers get permit for hands on!" he cut short after that sentence.
"Inverse Matrix... where the factor did that came from?"
The statement took Neku off guard. D... Déjà' vu...
Shrugging it off, he focused his mind to scan and engage in a battle. "Let's do this then!"