Neku wakes up in the Scramble. He's not surprised whenever that happens anymore. This time is different, though. He wakes up with the crowd moving around him, some passerbys shooting him a weird look, most likely due to still being on the ground. The ever-present pressure of the UG and anxiety the game emits are gone. Neku isn't sure if the feeling that something is amiss is because of the lack of pressure or relief that everything is finally over.
He gets to his feet and makes his way towards Hachiko. A ritual that he does every time he wakes up in the Scramble. He sits down on the railing, clasps his hands together, and recounts what happened in the game. The Wicked Twisters and Ruinbringers tied for first place in the game, and both teams were released instead of there being a tie-breaker, something that Neku had feared would happen but never did.
The Wicked Twisters had been in last place the majority of the game, only rising in ranks near the end of the game when more players had been erased by the reapers. He assumed it had to do with Rindo's powers that had to do with time. Rindo never spoke or told anyone about it, but it made sense how they got pins and items there was no real way of knowing that they would need. Nagi once told him about how Rindo would suddenly insist they needed something like a pin or need to go somewhere, dragging along with them. Fret was always supportive of his best friend, and Nagi didn't really feel like resisting, but whenever she had asked why all Rindo had said was "Trust me," or "Just a hunch." Even with all that, Nagi had said that she "trusts Lord Rindo's judgement."
Neku was once part of team Ruinbringers, back when he first got to the game 3 years before. He had sought out Tsugumi since she had been present in his visions before he died. She had somehow slipped into the UG during Shinjuku's inversion. Neku thought that she would have been erased during the inversion, but, according to her, she had miraculously survived and slipped into the UG during the brief period between inversion and recreation of the city. She had been seeking him out too, explaining that she had seen visions of him fighting with Beat before the Inversion occurred.
They worked together for about a year before Neku left, slowly getting tired of other people as much as he knew he needed to trust them. Neku hadn't officially defected from the team, probably why he had been revived with the rest of the others. He was surprised he was in the game to begin with, considering that he had been disqualified from competing in any and all games after his last one. Perhaps that was why he had been targeted by some of the Shinjuku reapers and players. Tsugumi had attacked him during an encounter between her and the majority of the Wicked Twisters.
That was another thing that had shocked Neku. Never in his life or after-life had he expected Sho Minamimoto to participate in the game as a player. Neku was shocked at his return, but figured it made sense considering how he had returned during that third week of the Long Game as the reapers referred to it. Apparently, that particular Game had become well known by the UG. Probably due to a Game never having so many rules bent, broken, and the amount of interference committed by both the Conductor and Composer. Pi-Face was even willingly working together with the rest of his team, though his lack of patience with them was apparent. After the game ended, he had chosen to join the Shinjuku reapers, his goal to become Composer apparently not crunched in the garbage pile Joshua had killed him with.
Sometime after he had left Tsugumi, he changed up his clothes. He had never told anyone, but his hair was naturally blonde and the lack of hair dye prevented him from dying his hair back to orange during the game. He had avoided most of the brands he used during the long game, but couldn't help but indulge in some pins from Jupiter of the Monkey, a brand he was loyal to, Natural Puppy, and Tigre Punks. He wore all dark clothes with a hood and a black face mask to hide most of his face. He didn't want to be seen in a store his friends were at and have them recognize him. He didn't want to drag them back into the Game. He got black and red shoes that very much reminded him of the shoes that Beat liked to wear.
Neku looked out across Hachiko, wondering if the Shibuya game was starting up right now, Players partnering up with each other in a desperate attempt to fight off the Noise. He remembered partnering up with Shiki, Beat, and Joshua here. Neku looked down at the ground. He wanted to see them so very much, but he didn't know if he could do that to them. Just die in front of them and reappear 3 years later with no explanation whatsoever. He wondered if he was trying to avoid the drama that would surely happen.
He knew not letting them know he was okay was not an option. They wouldn't do that to him. They wouldn't forgive him for that, either. He wondered if they would hate him anyways for being gone this long.
He pulled out his still purple phone and checked the time. It was after school. Knowing them, they were at WildKat right now working on projects and chatting with them. Even if they weren't there, seeing Mr. Hanekoma after all this would be nice.
He took off towards Cat Street, turning up the volume on the headphones under his hood. Only 3 years and Shibuya had already changed so much. Different shops flitted in and out every month, some removed by the crushing failure of their failures, some others that bloomed into a larger corporation, and some others that either could pay for a better location or others that couldn't.
Cat Street seemed mostly the same. The Jupiter of the Monkey store was still here after all this time. Not too surprising, since J of the M is a very popular brand. Both him and Rindo are fans of it (though they never discussed it. Rindo never saw him wear the brand so he didn't know it was his go-to) and they didn't discuss things like clothing brands in the brief time they spent together without having to focus on the Game.
The tree outside Wildkat didn't look that much different than it had before. Its familiarity is comforting. The few outdoor tables looked the exact same too, not even so much as a chip on any of the white paint. Mr. H probably checked those often.
He could hear people talking from inside. Neku froze. Yeah, they were inside. And here he was, standing out here in the street, a single door between them. And still, he didn't jump at the chance.
Part of him had hoped that they would have saved him from the Game in some high-risk climatic effort to get him back. After all he's been through it would seem the right way for things to play out, all of them fighting together to end the Game that he had been shackled to for some time. Approaching them now almost seemed like a letdown, almost disappointing even, that he didn't have anything planned other than 'just show up.'
He grits his teeth and opens the cafe door, the bell chime ringing dutifully as he enters.
In his peripheral, he sees Shiki, Eri, Beat, and Rhyme doing homework at a booth, no sign of Joshua. Shiki's brown hair is only a bit longer, but it has gotten a bit curlier at the ends. Her glasses seem to be the same or an extremely similar pair to the ones she had before. Eri's hair is in a ponytail and is multiple shades of red. Beat looks mostly the same, still wearing the same beanie, only appearing a bit more worn-out than before. Rhyme looks the most different, their features being more mature than when they were 12 years old. Their blonde hair is longer now, going just past their shoulders, or he would assume it is because it's pulled back into a braid. A sneaking suspicion told him that Beat braided it for them. They still have the same Gatito bell pendant that Beat had gotten them a long time ago.
They only glance at him and return to their work, barely catching Eri muttering something about Mr. H "actually having customers for once."
They didn't recognize him.
Mr. Hanekoma looks up from behind the counter. "Welcome to WildKat…" his eyes widen as their gazes meet. He recognizes him, then, even with the new look. Thank God someone did. Neku glances back towards where his friends are sitting, ignorant of his presence. Mr. Hanekoma follows his gaze and frowns. He understood what Neku was upset about.
Mr. H gave him a comforting smile that was almost smug before clearing his throat. "Heya there, Phones." He spoke loudly, making sure that the others heard him. Neku could see them stiffen as both Shiki and Beat whip their heads to stare at him, confusion clear in their eyes. "Glad to see you got out all right."
All of them were scrutinizing him now. Shiki let out a small whimper as Mr. Mew fell from her hands to the table.
"...Neku?" She asks, desperation in her voice. A lump forms in Neku's throat.
Neku shifts his weight from one foot to the other, deciding his words carefully. "Hey, Stalker." A pause as the other's eyes widen. They all knew the Stalker nickname from how much grief Shiki had given him over it. "I'm back."
They scramble out of their seats. Beat was the first one to reach him, throwing his arms around him in a tight hug. Shiki and Rhyme were next, followed by Eri who only hesitated for a split second. And she had been sitting by Shiki in the booth, between her and the window, so in that regard it made sense that she was the last to join the hug. Surprisingly, Hanekoma joins in on the hug as well, stepping out from around the counter.
Shiki and Rhyme were crying, Beat as well, but he would never admit it. Eri was in tears but not as much as the others. It made sense, they didn't know each other that well. He and Beat had been taken into Coco's game a few months after he and Eri had met for the first time.
Once the long hug is finished, he's ushered over into the booth. Rhyme and Eri sit on one side while Neku is smooshed between Shiki and Beat.
Shiki and Beat struggle to speak, so Rhyme says what they were all thinking. "We thought you were, well, erased," They say. "Beat told us what Coco did, and we assumed that you were in the Game again. But, you didn't show up after a week so we were getting concerned. We thought it might be something similar to what happened before, so when you didn't show up after a month, we could only assume that you were erased."
Oh. Yeah, that would make sense. He would probably think the same thing if any of them were in his position.
"We even went to priss kid, yo," Beat grumbles beside him.
Shiki nods, "He said you weren't in the Shibuya game and that he couldn't help you. He never showed it, but I could tell that he was upset over what happened."
Beat frowns, and Neku turns to him and waits patiently for him to spit out the words he had been withholding. Beat throws his arms around him after a few more seconds.
"I-I'm sorry, yo!" Beat chokes out. "I couldn't do anythin' when Pixie Chick attacked you, man. I-I shoulda pushed you outta the way, but I couldn't save you, man. An' when you didn't return an' we figured you was gone for good I kept thinkin' about how it was my fault. I'm sorry, yo."
"It's okay, I forgive you, Beat," Neku says softly, fiddling with his fingers, a habit he picked up after no longer having a big collar to sink his head into. "I'm sorry I worried you all."
Eri frowns at him, "No, don't be sorry. It's not your fault that this happened. It was not your choice to get pulled back into the game. What's important is that you're back, and that you're safe." Shiki and Rhyme both nod a few times in agreement.
Neku manages a shaky grin at her, "Yeah. Honestly, it's still kinda surreal being back." He turns to Shiki, "I met and saw a lot of people with clothes and merchandise of your piggy."
Shiki hits him over the head with Mr. Mew, though not with as much ferocity as would in the past. "He's a cat," Shiki insists, before giving him a smile, "Eri and I finally hit it big in the fashion industry! I think we've even had customers who are Players, too."
Neku nods, "Reapers, too." Shiki blinks in surprise, clearly not expecting that their products would be popular even with those in the UG.
Eri clears her throat, "Now that that's all out of the way," she turns to give Neku a sharp look, "It seems your fashion hasn't gotten any better, mister."
Neku gulps. They laugh at him.
After hours of them teasing him about new clothes, and lots of teasing about his new hairstyle (and shock about him being a blonde now) they finally depart for the day, with promises for him to text him when he gets home along with threats with them to barge into his house if he doesn't.
Idly, Neku wonders what his parents are thinking. To the media, he's been declared missing, but not dead. Any normal person would assume that he was dead, but there have been miracle cases about missing persons turning up after decades. He'd probably be seen as one of those cases. He's 18 years old now, too, but he sure doesn't feel like it. He's old enough to go to college and get a job and live on his own. He cringes at the thought of missing his last 2 years of high school. He hoped that the hirers at any future jobs he worked at would understand the fact that he couldn't physically go to school because he had been gone all this time.
He stares at the front door of his house. It feels almost wrong to just walk in, like he was intruding. He's lucky that his parents didn't plan on moving from this house over the past years. He'd probably have to crash at Shiki or Eri's place (Beat and Rhyme's place was a no go. Their parents were strict enough with them as it was, even if they were slowly becoming more lenient towards Beat), and that was an awkward situation he did not want to be put in.
He decides to knock and wait patiently. His mom eventually opens the door, and when she opens the door, she stares at him in shock. His mask is off and his hood is down, so he should be more recognizable to her. Before he can even say a word, he's being wrapped in a hug, his mom crying. His dad comes to the door, hearing the commotion. He takes a second to process the sight before him before wrapping his arms around the both of them.
Neku's sorta surprised. He had come to the conclusion that neither of his parents really cared about him. No memorial of any kind had been left where he died the first time. Then again, they could've mourned at a grave, or perhaps they were too wrapped up in grief to make a proper memorial.
They pull him inside and talk and cry his ear off about how worried they were about him. They never once imply that he ran away from home, which Neku is thankful for. They must've known that he was truly "missing" from the way Shiki and the others acted.
Before he goes to bed that night he checks his phone and finds a single new message from a familiar contact.
J: I hear you're a blonde now, hm? My, my, it seems we're twins.
Neku rolls his eyes. He sees the three dots signifying that the other was typing.
J: Glad to see you home safe, Dear.
Neku gives a small smile at the text before sending back his own reply.
N: glad to be back. see u at the usual place?
J: I'll see you there.