Sanctuary

Humans.

They think they know everything.

Even though they are bigger, they see less.

Silly humans.

Chapter Twelve- Assumptions

The passengers of the train swayed as it bumped its way along the rails, speeding back to Shibuya. With a safe grip on one of the handrails above, Neku fiddled with the headphones around his neck. He was thinking of putting them on again, because the train was exceptionally fuller than usual, when his ash-blond haired companion yelped in surprise as the train gave a large jolt.

"Yo, Priss. Hang in there," Beat called down as the other squirmed in his seat.

For all his grace and airs, Joshua was a funny sight to see when he was sitting on the train. Rhyme tried to pat his back from the seat beside him to console him; it looked a bit patronising in Neku's point of view, though, and Joshua must have thought it too because he sat up straight and cleared his throat, effectively causing Rhyme to pull her hand away. "I'm fine."

Raising his voice a tad louder so that Joshua could actually hear him above the noise, Neku said, "You could always call your driver to pick you up."

"Yes, but it is a wonderful day and I think I would like to walk back home from the station." The view of the sky out the windows, of dark grey puffs of clouds, said otherwise. Neku would bet all his money that it was going to rain within the hour.

By the time the train pulled out of the station, Joshua was staggering out of the train (like he had done the previous times). He didn't say anything to Neku and Beat's unrestrained snickers as they passed out of the exit. He did, though, stop short when he saw a man dressed in a suit standing at the bottom of the station exit, arms crossed and not looking very amused.

"Ain't that your ride?" asked Beat, staring at the black limousine parked in front of the station. "And who's the dude?"

"Yes, that's my car," Joshua muttered. "And he's my butler."

His butl – oh I shouldn't even be surprised. They walked down the stairs and when they reached his butler, he gave Joshua a glare. "Master Yoshiya, where did you think you were going?" Well, Neku assumed it was a glare because he couldn't actually see his eyes behind the sunglasses he wore.

"Mr. Kitaniji. I was about to take a leisurely stroll back home," he said, sounding innocent enough.

"Walking home from here would take at least a few hours. By then, Master Kiryu would have called to check in and it would have been me who would have to answer the question as to why his son was not home," he said, adjusting his shades. I bet that's not a normal thing for butlers. "Let's go back, it is going to rain soon anyway."

"No, thank you. Please go on without me Mr. Kitaniji."

Joshua and Kitaniji were having what looked like a stand-off, neither the former nor the latter looking willing to give in.

"Could we visit your house, Joshua?" Their intense staring competition was interrupted by Rhyme.

"Yeah," Neku said, catching on with what Rhyme was doing. "You like to talk about Kiryu so much, so maybe we should go visit where all the great ideas come from." He could practically see Joshua's resolve of being stubborn wavering.

"Eh, it ain't gonna be that great, is it? It's Priss' place, yo." And that was Beat for today, folks, thank you very much.

All that was left was to see if Joshua was going to take the bait.

"Mr. Kitaniji, call the house to inform them that we are about to have guests."

Yep, he took the bait.

xxxxx

Kitaniji's claim that it would take Joshua over an hour to walk to his home was not an exaggeration. If it was about an hour away from Shibuya as a drive, he couldn't imagine how long it would take to walk home.

"How come you didn't go to a school nearer to your place?" Neku would think that it would make more sense to attend somewhere closer, since if he was driven from here to Ebisu that would be about two hours in total.

"The schools in this area don't have as great rates for getting into university as Ebisu," he answered.

"It's not like our high school is one of the top though," Neku pointed out.

"It's good enough for Father." He paused and then regarded Beat. "Although now that you mentioned it, Father thinks that my academic success is essential and would never let me go to an easy school…so how did someone like Beat get in?"

Good question. Neku's entrance tests weren't too difficult but they weren't particularly easy. "Maybe first year exams are easier than transfers."

Rhyme shook her head. "I don't think that they were made to be easy. Beat worked really, really hard before taking the entrance exams."

"That's right, yo!"

"…"

" 'Phones, Priss, cut it out! Stop lookin' at me like that."

"…"

"And don't you start accusin' me of cheatin' or anything."

"…"

"This is actually getting' pretty insultin'!"

Before Beat could get even more worked up about their growing suspicions about how exactly Beat got into their school, the limo drove through large black gates where an enormous house – no - mansion came into view. They were all struck by the sheer grandeur of it, with its glistening white walls and the beautiful garden that surrounded the building. "Yo, that's insane!"

"This is Tokyo," said Neku. "How did you even get the land for this? We might not be in Shibuya but we're still in Tokyo."

"There are still some parts reserved for residency, silly Neku. Money can get you anything," Joshua said in a tone akin to what one would use to teach a pre-school student.

The car came to a complete stop, and the driver opened the door for them; they walked up white marble steps to the front entrance. The door was pulled open and they were faced with two rows of (this is insane) maids lined up on either side of the grand staircase. Each one bowed and said, "Welcome back Young Master."

"This is a bit surreal," Rhyme said, covering her mouth.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it," said Joshua. "Since we're here earlier than planned, I think I'll make a call to my Father first. He's in Kyoto for business and he'll be back tomorrow morning." He summoned Kitaniji. "Please show the guests around the house. I'll be in Father's study for the mean time." He turned back to his friends. "I'll join you guys later. Don't miss me too much, I'll be quick."

He really is a 'young master'. Neku watched as Joshua headed up the stairs and turned to the right. Once he had left, the maids all dispersed, hurrying along to continue on with whatever chore they were doing.

"That was weird," Beat commented. Neku and Rhyme could only nod in agreement.

Kitaniji cleared his throat. "As Master Yoshiya has requested, I will give you a short tour of the Kiryu household. Please follow me."

Joshua's butler led them throughout the mansion. Neku would think it impossible, seeing as how big it looked from the driveway, but the interior of the mansion felt more spacious than the first look gave away. Maybe it was because the house had about a dozen rooms on each floor, and there were three floors. Maybe it was the size of the kitchen and the dining room, which was big enough to be a restaurant on its own. Or maybe it was Beat's constant 'this place is huge-ass'(but that kind of just made Neku want to laugh).

They did not miss a single room…until they walked straight past one with a very red door. It was bright red and did not fit the toned down colour scheme of the rest of the mansion. As Kitaniji continued walking ahead talking about the house as he did, the trio stopped following him.

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Beat asked, hand already on the doorknob of the red door.

"For once, I think I am," said Neku, feeling equally rebellious today.

"Curiosity killed the cat…" Rhyme reminded them, though she did not try to stop them.

Entering the room, they found that it was, again, large. It was also full of all kinds of musical instruments. There were cellos, trombones, tubas, flutes, violins, saxophones and a lot more instruments that even Neku couldn't trust himself to name.

As a music lover, Neku couldn't help but feel elated at being in the presence of so many instruments. Even Beat seemed impressed, as he picked up a clarinet, debating whether or not to blow on it. Rhyme was visibly enraptured by one instrument in particular at the very back of the room; on a raised platform was an ivory black grand piano. She hopped along to it, tracing a finger along the white keys and pressing gently on a note.

"That note happens to be 'middle C', in case you didn't know." Joshua stood at the doorway, looking at the three of them with an amused smirk.

"I didn't know. I don't play anything," said Rhyme, pressing the note again, as the boys gathered around the piano.

"You should give one a try. The piano is a good one to start with if any. They say if you can play the piano, you can play anything." He gestured towards the seat and Rhyme moved aside, to let him take over.

Joshua started playing.

And hell he was brilliant.

It was a lively piece, a beautiful one where the notes melded together to create the perfect sound.

Once he finished, he looked up at them with his aren't-I-amazing smirk.

Neku didn't want to believe that Joshua of all people could play like that, but credit where credit's due. "That was…good." That's still all Joshua was going to get out of him.

Beat and Rhyme were a lot more generous with their compliments, Beat spouting out nonsense like, "that was a sick tune, man. An' it ain't even rap." Rhyme was actually clapping.

"Aw, please stop. You're making me blush," he said, with an off-hand-ish wave. He was really eating all this up.

"Alright, alright if his ego grows any bigger even this mansion won't be able to hold it," said Neku. "I thought you said you didn't play, Josh."

He waved a finger at Neku. "I recall my exact words were that Father thinks it is a waste of time, hence why the room is marked red – for 'no entry'. I never said I didn't play anything." Of course.

"That is true," said Rhyme with a giggle. "I didn't expect you to be great at the piano too, Joshua. Which reminds, me, is your Okami violin in this room?"

There was a pause as Joshua considered the younger girl's question. A long enough pause for Neku to register what Rhyme had just suggested.

"Hold up. Joshua is Okami? I thought Okami was a girl?" He thought Okami could have possibly been Shiki.

"Those are just assumptions that people made about Okami," Joshua said. "And why not let them? Saves my identity."

"…"

"So how did you figure it out, Rhyme dear?"

"Well you have the piece you just played, the one titled 'Joshua'. Most people think it's a song about a man that Okami might be in love with but it's not impossible that it was named after Okami himself. And after Neku introduced you, it was quite obvious."

"No one calls me Joshua, so yes, no one would have guessed if they didn't call me that. I seriously thought you figured it out Neku. I even asked if you were my fan when we first met."

"I forgot about that, okay?" Neku glared at Joshua's condescending tone. "I didn't know you even had a piece called 'Joshua'."

"That's my most famed piece," Joshua pointed out. "Unless, you're saying you haven't actually watched any of my videos?"

"…"

"You haven't. Oh Neku, I'm hurt."

"Even I've watched that one, Phones'."

"'Joshua' as a piece was actually Japan's most viral video last month."

"I don't use the internet that much." Alright, now Neku was getting pissed off. They were all looking at him as if they pitied him for not having heard of the piece. "Why are you making all these videos, anyway?"

Joshua held a finger to his lips. "That one's still my secret." He got up from the seat. "The Okami violin is in my room. Perhaps I'll show it to you later. It surprised me that you stayed in this room, though. I would have thought you would prefer the games room."

Neku, Beat and Rhyme said in unison, "A games room?"

"Yes, I've got several games such as the Samurai's Cre-"

"The hell we still here for? Les' go Priss!"

xxxxx

Friday came and went uneventfully. Rhyme was still hard at work, trying to contain her Soul energy, Beat was helping her with it, and Joshua was still a prick. Shiki was the same as ever.

Neku felt lucky to have her, when she had called him to talk about the revelation of Joshua being Okami. She hadn't seen the videos either, or at least couldn't recall watching them, so she couldn't call Neku out for not seeing them. She did chuckle when Neku told her he previously suspected her of being Okami. "I'm used to working with strings, but not that kind," she had said.

"…you know how, deceive me, kick over the trace…"

That was her now.

"Morning Neku! What are we going to do today?"

"You mean what am I going to do today," he said as he put on his shoes.

"Details, details."

"Meow."

"What Nimew said. I'm taking it out to Miyashita Park. I think if I keep it in here with just me for any longer, it's going to want to mutilate my face in my sleep." Neku watched as Nimew held out a paw, its claws out, as if to make a point. "I was half-joking there." His cat was really scary.

He opened the front door and Nimew trotted out first, and Neku walked a step behind it.

"So. Joshua said that Other Joshua said that we should find a way you to call me out. And to do that…"

"We've got to strengthen our Pact. Not that Mr. Unhelpful told us how."

"Joshua did tell us that we should try talking to each other more. The Pact's strength is supposed to come from your Soul rather than any physical ability and if we talk then our Souls will become closer. Or at least that's what he told us."

"We already talk to each other every day," said Neku. "How much more can we talk?"

"I think what Joshua means is that we should really open up to each other. Leave nothing a secret!"

"Nothing…" Neku agreed that secrets weren't a good thing. "It's not really a 'secret' but…" There were still some things he wasn't ready to talk about.

Shiki must have felt his sentiment because she said, "It's alright. We'll just take it slow. I said this last time, but you can tell me when you're ready."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Though, I have to tell you I'm still a little peeved at you."

"For what?"

"I have to prod you again and again for you to tell me things, but you told Mr. H our whole life's story in one go! How is that fair?"

"You were bothered by that?" Why would she be bothered?

"A little…"

"C'mon, you can't tell me that if it had been you talking to him, you wouldn't have said even more than me." If Mr. H could get him to talk that much, he could bet that Shiki would have said at least ten times as much.

"Hmph." He could just imagine her puffing out he cheeks. "Fine, you got me there. I guess it's alright since you like Mr. H a whole lot more than you like me."

"How'd you come up with that?"

"You are his number one biggest fanboy."

"I am not a 'fanboy'." He did not like that term.

"Says the guy who has every album of CAT that was produced by him, even the bad ones."

Bad ones -?! "There are no bad ones!"

"How about 'The Sixth Code'?"

Oh, right…"That wasn't…bad, just…different."

"You played all of them in a row for me once, and The Sixth Code made me wish I could die again."

"You should be glad I even played them for you."

"Why?"

"I've never played my tunes for anyone before – you're the first."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

He could feel happiness bubbling up from Shiki's Soul to his. To the point that it was getting a bit embarrassing how happy she was about that. Did she really care about it that much?

And was he imagining things, again, or did he just feel a tiny bit something else from her? It wasn't happiness. He recognised that enough, and it was similar but different at the same time. What is it…?

"Meoooowwwww." Neku stopped short as he looked down and saw Nimew practically grinningup at him.

"Shut up." Whatever Nimew was saying with that mew was probably worth a 'shut up', even if Neku wasn't sure what exactly it meant. He nodded his head forward to let Nimew know to keep on going; they were about halfway to Miyashita Park now.

"Let's do the usual. You can talk about something. I'll just listen."

"Alright then. Let me see…hairstyles! I don't think we've ever talked about hairstyles with each other before."

"Yeah, because it would be stupid."

"Hey, you said you were just going to be listening. And what's so stupid about it?"

"One, it's just hair and two, how is that personal?"

"I'm sure I've said this before, but your appearance is important. It's not the most important thing about a person – of course not – but no matter who you are, one way or another, you're going to judge someone by their looks. It's not about being shallow or not, it's in human nature. Hair falls under that category too.

"It can even be a clue to your personality. Isn't that cool? For example, long hair means someone who's more 'adventurous'. If you've got something similar to a bob, you're someone more 'assertive'." Like you? "If a girl has a cropped hairstyle, it usually means she's tough.

"It's not all that different for guys. Take the difference between Beat and Joshua. Beat's closer to a buzz cut, and he's the tough guy of our group. Joshua's got longer hair, and he's a lot more extravagant."

Neku started tugging at the tip of one of his spikes. "And for people like me?"

"Spikes?" Shiki seemed to need to ponder for this. "It either means a more rebellious person or a 'hero' type."

"A hero type?"

"Yeah! Think about it, all the cool main characters out there have spiky hair!"

"That's true enough…" They talked about the strangest things. Neku didn't mind too much, though. It was starting to feel relaxing to him, a contrast to when he used to find her annoying.

His calm was interrupted by a loud hiss from Nimew.

Neku slowed to a stop again and looked around. They were just about to cross the road that led to the entrance of Miyashita Park; there was nothing out of the ordinary. "What's up Nimew?"

"Arrghhh!"

Right. Shiki was screaming through the phone. He felt the anguish course through him too. It wasn't his own pain –

"Gah!"

Okay, now his head was hurting too.

He clutched it, waiting for the pain to subside and hoping he wouldn't end up passing out again. The pain did ebb away, until eventually it was nothing but a dull throb. "You alive there, Shiki?"

"Very funny, Neku. But yeah I'm okay. Except…"

"Except…?"

"The images are still a bit fuzzy, but I think that the memory is coming back."

"Which one?"

"Of me dying."

…

"What do you remember?"

"There was a lot of sound…honking noises from cars. Headlights, too."

"Sounds like you died in an accident."

"An accident? That does feel right…" Crap, her voice was shaking.

"Anything else?"

"There's an image of a large vehicle…I remember being scared. A – a lorry?"

A lorry…and an accident? Wait…

Before Neku could think about it anymore, he heard the ring of an incoming call on his phone. He took it out of his pocket – it was Beat. Putting Shiki on hold, temporarily, he answered the call.

"Neku! Neku pick up man – ya gotta pick up." His voice was worryingly urgent.

"Beat!" he shouted. "I'm here. What's wrong?"

"It's – and it's my fault…I should've been watchin'…I should've, I should've – " Beat was incoherent, and the next thing he knew, there was a shuffle on the other end.

"Neku."

"Joshua?"

There was a sound of a door opening and yells from Beat, which sounded a lot like 'hurry up!'.

"We've just arrived at the Shibuya General Hospital."

The hospital? "What?"

"It's Rhyme. She's almost drowned and she's unconscious and – no, Beat, that way – I can't talk now. Just get over here."

Joshua hung up and Neku swore.

Just when he thought his weekend was going to be peaceful, life decided to kick him in the face and go on a riot. He didn't need to say anything to Shiki, as he started running.

Hang in there Rhyme.

A/N: Tadaa! Rhyme shall be hanging in there. Like you guys will. –shot for a bad joke-. Ahem. The TWEWY 6th Anniversary was two days ago and there was another Crossover concert which I sadly missed Hope whoever managed to watch it, enjoyed it! I'll probably replay TWEWY soon…it'll probably enhance my writing, hopefully.

Thanks to those who puts this on favourite/started following: Rue-the-Marauder, Eternity Guarded, OZZX, Clogallie, suika-kun, Ice Suicune, LightDark2XD, SapphireOfTheCrescentMoon, remixofdestiny

Thanks to my reviewers: Alex Penedo, RagnartheSemiGreen, Xerzo LotCN, crimson-dust-blade, Airhead259, cutekitty5597, Prussianess, GRX3m0m, SapphireOfTheCrescentMoon, Tensei Kano

Thanks for reading, everyone :)

Sanctuary Thirteen– Unstable

Master Yoshiya's friends are a very…interesting bunch so to speak.

"How did it happen?"

It's good to see him have company, for once.

"It doesn't matter…"

It's good to let him have other things on his mind.

"What was my dad like?"

He's a very complicated person, after all.