"Thank God you're back, Shiki," he said, unable to contain his smile. "I really thought you were gone, for a while there."
Shiki opened her mouth to speak when the door opened and Eri walked in, "Neku, I hope you don't mind if I come in now – Shiki!" She ran over an enveloped her in a hug from the side. "Shiki…I can't believe it. You're awake."
"Eri…" she said, her voice coming out hoarse due to lack of use. "Judging from this room, I must have caused you to worry a lot."
"You sure did!" said Eri. She turned and gave Neku a wide smile. "You must be her lucky charm, or something. I've been trying to get her to wake up for ages."
"'Or something' is probably right," he gave Shiki's hand another soft squeeze.
To his surprise, she pulled her hand away from his.
"Shiki?"
She stared down at her hand for a moment and then looked back up at Neku.
"Um...I'm sorry but…who are you?"
Chapter Twenty Three – Sanctuary
The question Shiki asked hung heavily in the air. There was a momentary silence in which Neku could do nothing but stare at her. He wanted to tell Shiki to stop joking around but Shiki didn't make jokes like that. Her eyes did not show him any recognition.
"I…" I'm Neku. Remember? Neku Sakuraba. You…we…we've been with each other for over a month. How can you just forget me like that?
Eri slowly detached herself from Shiki and moved to hold her shoulders instead. She glanced at Neku before speaking, "Shiki, do you know who I am?"
"Of course I do. You're Eri Abarai - my best friend. I was asking the guy with the orange hair," she said. "He wouldn't happen to be the new boyfriend you were talking about, would he?"
"No, I only met him today. He said he was your friend…that's why I left him with you for a while just now," Eri said, throwing Neku another look. "You really don't know him?"
Shiki was looking at him with a frown and a look of immense concentration on her face. She then shook her head, "No. I've never met him before."
"Shiki…you really don't remember me?" he asked her, weakly. "Not at all?"
She shook her head again.
It was like she had taken all the air out of the room with that action. He suddenly felt like he was suffocating. He had thought that he'd finally gotten her back. And he had in a way…but what good was that if she didn't remember him?
"Maybe…she has memory loss," Eri suggested, most likely able to see the expression of despair that Neku didn't have it in him to hide.
"You mean I have amnesia?" asked Shiki, her tone rising to borderline panic.
"O-oh! No! Well, maybe you do…We'll have to get you checked up on by the doctor." She jumped off the bed. "The doctor! Right, I need to go get him..or a nurse to say that you're awake. I'll call your parents too! Give me a sec...oh shoot! My phone's out of battery. Oh! I'll use payphone downstairs – I'll be right back!"
"W-wait!" said Shiki. "You're just going to leave me someone I don't know?" She seemed to catch herself at the last moment, looking at him apologetically. "Sorry, I don't mean to say you're someone suspicious, but I just don't…"
Too late. The damage was done and her words had cut him. Deep. She didn't know him – she didn't trust him. It was an understandable reaction if she had no memory of him. Who would trust a stranger, after all? He never used to trust them. But we're not strangers Shiki. We're not.
"…know me," he finished her sentence for her, getting it out of the way. "I'm guessing you want me to leave." He too stood up. "I'll just go then."
She had just woken up from a coma– he didn't want to be the cause of extra stress on her. She must still be very weak from it all. That's why she can't remember me…It must be.
Before he could actually leave, the door burst open. Beat, Joshua and Rhyme appeared, all looking out of breath.
"Bwaaaaaah!" Beat shouted. "It's really Shiki! She's actually alive!" He grabbed onto his sister joyously; Rhyme herself was smiling, speechless.
"Not only is she alive," said Joshua, with a genuine smile of his own, "but she's awake. We were in such a rush to get here – I think Beat was willing for my driver to run down a few people in the process. It seems as if she's woken up just to see us." He giggled, looking at Shiki. "Welcome back, dear."
"…" Shiki tugged at Eri's clothes. "I don't know who they are either."
What the three must have expected to be a happy reunion was met with the same response as Neku had. At least I'm not alone for this.
"You don't know us?" Joshua questioned as Beat's jaw dropped and Rhyme sharply sucked in breath of air. Joshua looked at Neku, searching for answers but Neku shook his head – he was in the same predicament.
Eri seemed to notice the exchange because she patted her friend's shoulder in reassurance. "I think maybe you really do have a case of amnesia. These guys are with you, right Neku?"
"They're my friends." He turned to look at Shiki, almost demanding that she look into his eyes. To her credit, she didn't look away. "We're all your friends, Shiki."
"…" Holding Neku's gaze, she seemed to decide something. "Eri…I can't say that I remember any of these people but…I don't think they're bad people." She nodded at Eri. "I think I'll be okay…with them if you're only gone for a little while."
"Great!" Eri hurried out the door. "I'll be right back!"
Eri exited the room, leaving behind a rather tense atmosphere.
"Yo," said Beat. "This is seriously messed up."
"You're telling me," Neku muttered, glancing again at Shiki who caught the look and did look away, this time. He turned instead to Joshua. "Any idea why she can't remember us?"
"Well…" said Joshua, who brought his hand up to his chin, looking pensive. "Thinking through it logically, the experiences she had when she had a Pact with you would have been contained in her Soul as she has no physical place to keep them. Ergo, she would not have these experiences as actual memories stored in her brain…If she was alive all this time then perhaps the reason she was in a coma was because her body had been vacant of her Soul and she woke up because it returned. Perhaps her experiences through her Soul didn't transfer to her physical memory?" The boy frowned.
"Her Soul..." Neku showed Joshua his phone. "Shiki's contact disappeared from my phone just before she woke up. Think that has something to do with it?"
"Truth be told, I think you would have to ask the Other Joshua for more information about this…I'm only speaking my theories right now," was the answer, "Though lately I haven't 'felt' him around…if I manage to contact him, I'll tell you."
Neku realised that their whispered conversation would not help in bringing Shiki more ease about their company, but Neku couldn't help it. He just…wanted her to remember him.
The door opened again.
"It's you kids again. I thought I heard you shouting, despite me saying you shouldn't as, need I remind you again, this is a hospital," said Dr. Bito, walking in, clipboard in hand. "So, you were acquainted with Miss Misaki too."
"Dad? But you -! You're her doctor! Damn, Neku if I had known…" Beat looked just about ready to hit himself.
"You couldn't have known," Neku said. "It's not like you ask your dad about every single patient he has." We thought she was dead, anyway – he couldn't say that in front of Shiki and Dr. Bito, though.
"The doctor is your father?" Shiki asked Beat.
Looking startled that Shiki was talking to him, Beat let out a stiff, "Yes!"
Shiki's expression was much more relaxed after receiving that knowledge. Neku guessed that having a connection to her doctor made them less strange to her.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you all to leave for now. Miss Misaki's condition may not be very stable yet and I will need to perform the routine tests to assess her current health," Dr. Bito informed them.
"No way!" Beat argued. "We jus' got here. We ain't seen Shiki for ages. An' we thought that…" The boy looked at Neku and he knew Beat was about to say the very thing he thought only moments ago.
Dr. Bito sighed and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Daisukenojo. Visiting hours are almost over – the only ones that will be allowed in are her parents as she has just woken up. You can all visit her next time."
Surprisingly enough, Beat ducked his head down. "Alright, I got it, I got it."
"See you later, Dad," said Rhyme as she led Beat outside, Joshua following soon after.
Neku had to go now too. He had been ready to leave before the others had joined them, but when the moment had really come he…
Dr. Bito said that they could visit next time but could they? Could they really? If Shiki didn't remember them then would she want them to come? They would just be a bother to her.
"Mr. Sakuraba." Dr. Bito's tone was gentler than before.
So even he can tell…
"Right. Please excuse me…" He made to turn the door handle.
"Wait! Neku…" His head shot up and Shiki flinched in surprise. "T-that's your name, right?"
For a second there he had thought that she remembered him. The way she had said his name sounded like it always did – just like the Shiki that he knew.
"Yeah…"
"Um…Are you going to be coming back?" She looked down. "For some reason I think if you wanted to visit again I…wouldn't be against it." She then backtracked. "Oh, what am I saying? You must be mad that I can't remember you and it doesn't match up to what I said before but yet I…" Her voice trailed off and it appeared that even Shiki didn't know what she meant.
But maybe Neku knew what she meant. Maybe even if her mind didn't remember….somewhere deep in her Soul she did remember and that's why she wanted him – for them all – to come back.
Right. It's the same as if she was still asleep – I had already decided, right?
"I'll come," he said firmly. "I'll come visit you every day until you're let out of the hospital."
"Everyday?"
"It's a promise."
Closing the door behind him, he walked out to find Joshua, Beat and Rhyme waiting for him just outside.
"You okay, Neku?" asked Rhyme quietly.
"Yeah," he said. "For the most part. She said she's fine with us visiting her again, so…"
"This ain't cool, man," said Beat. "I can't believe she can't remember us."
"As much as I hate to say it," said Joshua, "I don't think there's a lot we can do about that. We may just have to be patient and wait for her memories to return." 'If' they return.
He pushed that thought out of the way. This was not the time to be pessimistic. He would do what he could for Shiki. "The most important thing is that she's safe and she's here with us. Nothing else matters."
"You're right," Rhyme agreed. "Safe and sound. It fits in with Shiki's hospital room name."
The name of the room? Oh yeah, the rooms here all had names, didn't they? He turned around to read the word on Shiki's door:
Sanctuary.
That's right…the thing Shiki had always needed was somewhere safe. With her physical body, she needed a place for it to recuperate and heal. A place where it would lie in wait for her Soul, undisturbed.
Her Soul, too, was in need of somewhere to be with so that it wasn't alone. That's why she needed a Pact with him.
But he needed her too – when he was lost and unsure of himself, when he was angry and hurt, she was always there for him.
In a way, she had been as much of a sanctuary for him as he had been for her.
He closed his eyes and reached up to place his hands on the door.
It's my turn to be here for you.
xxxxx
Three weeks. It had taken around three weeks for Shiki to be let out of the hospital. She had been in a wheel-chair for the first few days during her stay there and for the next few she was on crutches. After that, she had to go through physiotherapy to get her muscles functioning normally again after being out of use for two months. Dr. Bito said that even so, she was recovering at an almost unbelievable rate. Joshua suggested that it was due to her coma being caused by her Soul's absence rather than a physical reason.
Even now, though, she still had to go undergo physiotherapy every morning at the hospital to get her right up to full strength. Neku planned to pick Shiki up after her session today – it was a special day, after all.
With the visitor pass pinned to his chest, he walked into the exercise area of the hospital.
"If it isn't Neku! I see you've managed to avoid getting abducted by aliens."
"Hello, Neku. It's lovely to see you again!"
Yes, he ran into Mr. and Mrs. Kiryu a few times now since he began to frequent the hospital. It was either on the elevator when Mr. Kiryu was on his way to visit his wife or occasionally here where Mrs. Kiryu also needed her daily exercises. It was quite rare for him to catch them both at the same time, though.
Neku greeted them as per usual. "Good to see you too."
"It's a beautiful day today," commented Mrs. Kiryu. "It would be a shame for young ones like you to stay cooped up in a hospital on a day like this."
He couldn't agree more – which was why he didn't plan on spending it here. He looked around, eyes darting from each corner of the room.
"If you're looking for the young lady," said Mr. Kiryu with a wink, "then she's right over there." He pointed behind him to one of the rooms closed off by a curtain.
Precisely at that moment, as if cued by the motion, the curtain opened and Shiki walked out wiping her face with the white hand towel hung around her neck. When she spotted Neku she smiled. "I didn't know you were coming. You should have called."
"Well, I dropped by your house but your parents said you were here." Neku raised a hand up, showing her the present bag that he had been carrying. "I'm here to deliver this to you." He handed it over to her. "Happy Birthday."
Shiki blinked. Then she squeaked. "O-oh! That's right! It's my birthday! Thank you so much Neku." She looked into the bag and then looked back up at Neku. "…Can I open it?"
"You don't need to ask permission, you know."
"Ehehe…that's true." Neku saw her eyes widen and start to sparkle as she saw what he had bought for her. "A necklace!?"
He spent a good few days trying to find the perfect gift for her. He wasn't sure if this was 'perfect' but Shiki seemed to like it well enough, and that was all that mattered. When she shyly asked if he could help her put in on, he smiled knowing that he must have done well.
She smiled down at the golden-cat pendant when it was on and thanked him again.
Neku tugged at his hair and quickly changed the subject. "We should get going then."
"E-eh? Where?"
"You're spending your birthday with me, remember? I have a soccer match first though, and I thought you'd want to see me play since you don't remember any of my games."
Shiki's look of confusion swiftly changed to one of excitement. "Oh! Then what are we waiting for?"
xxxxx
Soccer – that was the answer that they had given her when Shiki asked how she supposedly knew them all. When the boys had been keeping quiet, not knowing what to say, Rhyme had saved the day and told Shiki that she had met them all when she happened to go along and watch one of their matches one day. Neku had to hand it to Rhyme – the young girl had remembered talking to a few girls who had come from St. Ursula's, a girl's school, and had been told that the girls there sometimes went to other high school's soccer matches to spectate. This became useful when Eri chipped in by saying something along the lines of, "Oh so you finally went!" Apparently Eri had once suggested it to Shiki.
None of them was going to tell Shiki that it wasn't because of the suggestion that Shiki saw Neku and Beat's matches. At least they didn't have to tell her a complete lie.
They couldn't tell her about the whole business with the Spirits – Shiki would really kick them out, then. Furthermore, they had somehow managed to pass off the misinformation of Shiki's actual whereabouts by blaming it on the St. Ursula's girl's awry information. Neku kind of felt guilty about that but Joshua said that they had a reputation as big gossipers anyway. But still.
Dr. Bito even said that due to the degree of injury that had come to her head, memory loss was not at all unlikely and that helped with clearing Shiki and Eri's doubts.
With Shiki and Eri feeling more comfortable around Neku and the others, Neku was able to visit Shiki at the hospital without any trouble.
"It's too bad Eri had to go back to Kyoto," said Shiki as they were on their way to the soccer pitch at Ebisu. "I was talking to her on the phone earlier but it would have been nice if she could have been here."
"Maybe she'll be around next year." Neku said that instead of agreeing because really, he thought that maybe he preferred that Eri wasn't here today. It was a bit ridiculous of him but he kind of thought that Shiki's attention would definitely go more towards Eri if the girl was around, especially with her memory still like this.
"Mmhmm." Shiki glanced at Neku. "You know…"
"Yeah?"
"I guess it wouldn't be the same for you but for me it feels kind of weird how fast we got close."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…well, when you first started visiting I was actually still feeling a bit wary," she admitted. Oh, so there were still a few doubts. "But it didn't take long for me to feel comfortable around you. I don't know…it might sound strange but it was sort of…natural. I don't know if I'm making any sense."
"No, I understand what you're saying," said Neku. For Shiki, it would be because she did know him even if she didn't remember him. Her Soul must have still remembered him and that was a comforting thought. There was no sign so far of Shiki actually remembering what they went through together but Neku wouldn't give up hope for it.
Even if she doesn't remember…
"It was strange for me too."
"Huh?"
"When I first talked to you with you not remembering me and all. I wasn't mad it just felt somewhat lonely." Especially after all that trouble… "But I kind of enjoyed it – getting to know you all over again."
After a while he realised that memories or not, Shiki still acted like the Shiki that he had got to know. The same quirks, the same passion for cats and for sewing. The same smile. Inevitably, Shiki told him some things that she had before and he had to repeat some things about himself but he found that he didn't mind it.
"I enjoyed getting to know you too," she said smiling warmly.
"It's not even lunch time yet and you two are already so lovey-dovey. Impressive, Neku."
"Not even lunch time and you're already being a prick. I'm not even surprised anymore, Joshua."
Joshua was standing just by the stands that were packed for the game, with the usual Ebisu fans.
Their ash-blond haired friend giggled at Neku's retort. "Touché." He took Shiki's hand and kissed it. "Happy birthday, dear."
Dammit Josha! Neku knew that if he said anything then he would be giving Joshua what he wanted and an opportunity to tease him even more. It didn't help that Shiki had turned red like an idiot.
Yeah, there had been one huge drawback of Shiki losing her memory – she didn't remember the last thing she said to Neku. And hell no, Neku was not asking Shiki if she liked him or loved him or anything because that would probably freak her out. Besides, she said 'something like' so it's not like she had been specific…Neku shook his head. Not. Thinking. About. It. That had been his tactic for the past few weeks – it worked quite well.
"Happy Birthday, Shiki!"
"Yo! Happy Birthday!"
"Thank you," said Shiki shyly, addressing all three of them. Neku wouldn't tell anyone but he felt a sort of pride that Shiki was more comfortable around him than the others. That wasn't to say that she didn't like them, though – Beat, Rhyme and Joshua would often also visit her and she confided in him that she liked them.
"Well, let's go Phones! This match is important!" Beat, already in his goalkeeping kit ushered Neku towards the benches where Neku retrieved his soccer uniform and went off to change.
He spotted Shiki, Rhyme and Joshua sitting in the front of the stands, the three of them holding a banner that Rhyme must have made, one that said 'do your best!'
"What kind of flavour will this match bring?" said Coach Higashizawa before the match. "The sweet flavour of victory! That's what! Now go! Let this match be as satisfying as receiving the head of the biggest yakizakana!"
"YEAH!"
"Let's do this!"
The match flowed perfectly as they all hoped it would. The Ebisu Soccer Team trained very hard for this match, the district final that they held on their own turf. If they won this then they would go on to regionals and, finally, into nationals. Their teamwork was flawless, as all their passes connected with one another.
"Miura, Yammer tighten up the defence, yo!" Beat commanded from the goal, the respective players taking up their positions.
"Ryogo, over here!" Shooter called for the ball loudly and it was sent flying towards him. He dribbled pass the other team's defenders, making it into the penalty area. "Master!"
Shooter kicked the ball in Neku's direction and Neku trapped the ball under his feet, one last defender to get through before he could score.
This ball carried all of his team-mate's feelings. At one point, he had not cared about them at all, he hadn't trusted or relied on them. But now they were a team, now – one that he played an important part in. And I won't let them down!
Neku kicked the ball powerfully, angling it right in the corner of the goal. The goalkeeper dove for the ball but to no avail – Ebisu had scored, making the final result a 3-2 win for them. The stands erupted into cheers of the students of Ebisu, all wanting to be a part of the victory. Out of the corner of his eyes, Neku saw that Rhyme had taken the whole banner for herself and was waving it up in the air frantically. Joshua was smirking with a look that said, 'Well, of course we would win'.
"We did it! We're going to regionals!"
The now expected group tackles were familiar to Neku and he actually liked all of this. The cheers, the noise. He didn't mind the noise any more – the noise wasn't the painful jeers that he had learnt to listen for in the past – these were sounds of celebration and acceptance. He was happy to belong to it, now.
He was only pulled away from the festivities when the scout from before, Mick, showed up and began wringing Neku's hand in congratulations. "You performed some brilliant plays out there, Sakuraba."
"T-thanks," said Neku, out of breath from all of the running around that he did.
"So, you're definitely coming to the training camp, right?" he asked him eagerly.
"Count on it," said Neku, to which Mick grinned.
"Perfect!" said Mick. "We look forward to seeing you there. Good luck in the regionals!" The scout then rushed off, presumably to talk to some other soccer player that had caught his eye.
Neku chuckled and headed up to the stands to where Shiki and the others were. Shiki grinned down at him. "Wow, Neku! You were amazing today! I think I get why I came to watch your soccer matches a lot!"
"It was nothing," said Neku, tugging at the tip of his spike.
"Hmm, how modest Neku. Is that new, Rhyme? I do believe it might be," commented Joshua with a smirk, raising an eyebrow while looking between the two.
"I'm surprised you even know how to use the word modest," said Neku with a roll of his eyes.
Rhyme laughed. "I think Neku's getting better at deflecting you, Joshua," she said.
"It would seem so," he said with a disappointed sigh. "Well, at least Beat's too thick to become capable of countering me."
"Priss! I heard that! I ain't thick! I jus' got a lot of muscle!"
"…Point proven."
"Wha-!? Phones! Do something!"
"There you are! Beat, congratulations!" shouted Ai from the row above them. She pointed straight down at him. "We'll go out for lunch sometime to celebrate, alright? No ditching me this time!"
Beat grinned sheepishly but he yelled up to her loudly, "I gotcha."
"Speaking of celebrations," said Neku, looking up at Shiki. "Let's get going, I've got a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" Shiki repeated.
"It's your birthday, after all," he said. Joshua, Beat and Rhyme all gave him simultaneous piercing looks. "Oh yeah, these guys are tagging along too."
"Tagging along!" yelped Beat indignantly. "We're Shiki's friends too. We ain't just taggin' along!"
"Yes, Neku," said Rhyme. "That's pretty rude of you…"
"See, this is what happens when people take their feelings too seriously."
"I was joking," he said, hoping Shiki would ignore that last one. "You're all equally as invited. As long as Shiki's happy then I'm fine with anything."
Expecting another tease from Joshua, he was taken aback from a sudden shriek from the row above. "That's so unfaaair!" Uhh…isn't that Mina? "You said you weren't interested in dating but you have a girlfriend! Even after I made all this effort to watch you play! I am so done here." Although the words made it sound like an angry outburst, the small sniff at the end of the sentence gave her away. "…Wahh! I'm leaving!"
"H-huh! Wait, Mina! Sakuraba I'm gonna kick your butt later," shouted Ai as she chased after her despairing friend.
"…" Neku and Shiki both averted their eyes from each other. Awkward.
"Heehee. Looks like I didn't have to say anything this time."
"Yo? Weren't we gonna go somewhere? Guys?" Beat, not reading the mood as usual.
"Yeah, what Beat said," said Rhyme, trying to assist Beat. "Where to, next?"
"Next," said Neku, recovering, "we're going to grab some lunch."
xxxxx
There was nowhere like Ramen Don if you wanted to eat ramen in Shibuya. It had already become a special place to Neku. Introduced to him by Beat and Rhyme, it was the place that he would always go to if he needed something quick to eat or wanted to meet up with his friends quickly, as it was an easy spot for all of them to converge at.
Even with the dusty alleyways of Dogenzaka littering the paths opposite of the stalls, Neku was not afraid of that place anymore. All the demons that had haunted that place were gone now, and Neku and his friends were the ones who had gotten rid of them.
Ramen Don was as busy as ever and half the people there were on Neku's team. Shooter was seated right by the front of the store. "Hey, Master! Here for some ramen, too, huh?"
"Right." He sat next to Shooter while Shiki took her place next to him.
"Ah! My favourite customers," said Mr. Doi jovially, "The usual?"
"Yep," answered Rhyme. She looked over to Shiki who was staring down at the menu. "What are you going to have, Shiki?"
Shiki bit her lip, seeming to have difficulties with so many options presented to her. She closed the menu. "I'll just have whatever Neku's having."
"Alrightee, young lady. The usuals plus one, coming right up!"
"I've never had ramen here before," said Shiki slowly. "Is it really good?"
That was right – even if Neku had come here plenty of times while they had a Pact, Shiki had never been able to actually eat the ramen. Eating ramen together with Shiki was truly a new experience this time and it was why Neku wanted to come here for lunch.
Well, as Beat gobbled down his food, Neku suspected that they would have probably come here anyway. "It really is. You could ask Beat if you could get him to stop eating for five seconds."
They both chuckled, though Beat was blissfully unaware of their comments.
As Ken Doi served their dishes, Shooter gave a loud hoot. "Can ya turn up the volume on the TV?"
"No, can do. We've got a lot of customers today."
"Aw, but it's Deck 104!"
"I don't care what anime it is, no means no!"
"You're no fun at all."
Seeing Shooter grumble, Neku ruffled the top of his head. "Hey, we won districts. Cheer up."
"Master…" Uh-oh, Shooter looked ready to hero-worship Neku again. "You're right! One more Shibuya Special please!"
"You got it!" Mr. Doi called back.
"How can he eat so much?" Neku wondered out loud, not having finished half of his yet. He turned to Shiki to ask what she thought, only to find her with her arms held right up, asking for another bowl already.
She lowered her arm rigidly. "I'm hungry…okay? And the ramen here is really good," she mumbled to Neku.
"Haha, I get it. Eat as much as you want," he encouraged, smiling.
So that's the face Shiki makes when she eats, huh?
Xxxxx
"I am stuffed," Beat announced once they exited the restaurant.
"Yes, you certainly did eat a…sizable amount for lunch, Beat," said Joshua, looking slightly repelled by Beat.
"He won't throw up on you," said Rhyme, eyeing the distance Joshua had put between himself and Beat.
"I don't want to take any chances." Joshua suddenly looked to his right. "Oh? Mr. Kitaniji?"
The Kiryu butler was stood waiting not far from the front of the restaurant, bowing when he took sight of Joshua. "Young Master, I'm here to deliver the item you asked for."
"I don't recall asking for anything," said Joshua.
"Did you not? There was a letter written by you by the front desk requesting that I bring the item here," Mr. Kitaniji informed him, pulling out said letter from his pocket. Joshua took it tentatively and started reading it.
"Is it from the Other guy?" Neku asked, watching Joshua read the lengthy looking letter.
"It appears so," came the reply. "It seems a little boring to be frank. I'll read it more thoroughly later…oh, but this part at the end seems important." Closing up the letter and tucking it into his own pocket, Joshua extended his hand and opened up his palm. "You said there was an item?"
"Yes, Young Master." Mr. Kitaniji retrieved the object.
I know what that is…! It was one of those black and white pins that they had used for their final fight. "Thank you, Mr. Kitaniji. You may take your leave."
Bowing once more, the butler left the group by themselves.
"Why'd ya need one of those?" Beat asked. "Ain't we done fightin'?"
"Yes," said Joshua with another thoughtful look, "but it seems that it still has its uses."
"Fighting? Huh? What is that thing?" Shiki asked in confusion.
"Hm. It's...a present for you." Joshua held it out for Shiki. "It's a pin designed by the producer of CAT himself. It was quite a fight to get hold of it, is what Beat meant." Nice save, Joshua. "Here, put it on."
"I don't know what to say…thank you Joshua!" Shiki attached the pin to herself. "It looks so cool. Uh…why are you guys all looking at me?"
…
Guess nothing happened. Neku had the same thought as the rest of his friends – perhaps the Other Joshua had come up with something that would bring back Shiki's memories. That would have seemed the most likely reason to give Shiki the pin, though by the way Shiki was handling the object, it seemed like it didn't have a lot of Soul Energy stored inside.
"It's nothing, Shiki," Rhyme said, smiling cheerfully.
"Oh! Okay!" Yep, leave it to Rhyme to clear situations. "Anyway, thank you guys so much for treating me to lunch. It was such a wonderful surprise, Neku."
"That wasn't the surprise."
"It wasn't?" It was not only Shiki who said this – the others, too, were not aware of what Neku had planned.
"Nope. 'Course not," he said. "We're going to it now, though. Just follow me." Not waiting for their responses, he started walking along his course first, leaving them no choice but to trail after him. Walking down the street, they left the Dogenzaka area into one that was much more crowded.
"W-wah! Why are there so many people here today?" Just moments later, Shiki bumped into someone and dropped her glasses in the process.
The other person bent down to pick them up and return them to her.
"Thank you," Shiki said gratefully.
"I never forget a face…" said the lady scrutinising Shiki. "Ah, you're that girl from the accident. Seems like you got home safely then?"
"Ah! You're the reporter! Um, Miss Konishi, right? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to cover the biggest event in Shibuya, of course," said the woman importantly, pushing up her own glasses. "That is to say –"
"Hey! Aunt Konishi! I've managed to grab us one of the organizers. Ain't you gonna come and interview the-" The person who was calling Konishi stopped in his tracks when he saw who she had been talking to.
"Who's that?" asked Joshua as Neku, Beat and Rhyme all glared at the person.
"Some punk-ass guy that we don't like," said Beat, cracking his knuckles at his ex-friend, Taichi.
The 'punk-ass' guy, though, started to shout like a little girl. "Oh crap, this is bad." He pulled his aunt and started dragging her away much to her resistance. "Aunt Konishi we gotta get outta here, these guys ain't human."
"…Huh?"
"They're like freakin' wind demons or something! Run!"
And just like the wind, the two had disappeared into the crowd.
"Will anyone care to explain what just happened?" Joshua said. "Was he talking about me?"
Beat exchanged a grin with Rhyme. "It's a long story, yo."
"Delightful," said Joshua drily, clearly not liking being out of the loop, for once. "Why don't you two just write a book about it?"
"Hah! We know somethin' you don't! We're one up on Priss now!" Beat cheered.
"Don't be so sure," said Joshua, "I always know more things than you at least, Beat."
"Watchu say?"
"Quit it," said Neku as they arrived at the entrance to A-East. "We're here now."
Shiki gasped. "You didn't. Y-you have tickets for the S-Nixe Concert? This is the concert that everyone in Tokyo dreams of going to! Usually, getting tickets for this is nearly impossible!"
"Nah, I don't have tickets," said Neku and Shiki visibly deflated. "But we are going to watch the concert."
Shiki perked up again. "How?"
Right on cue, the producer of the company who sponsored this concert himself, Sanae Hanekoma, appeared before them, whipping out what looked like five passes. "Surprise!"
Shiki made a sound that was between a squeal and 'oh my god'. Heh, Neku knew that her reaction would be like that.
"Here you go, Neku. Five VIP passes for S-Nixe."
"Phones! You da man!" Beat pumped a fist up in the air once he slung the pass around his neck. "Thanks Mr. H."
"No problem kiddos," said Hanekoma with a wide smile. "Neku here said it was Miracle Girl's birthday and he doesn't ask a lot of things from me so when he actually asked me for a favour I gotta tell you, made me feel like a good uncle after all."
"Of course you're a good uncle," Neku said immediately. "You're not just a good uncle, you're…the best uncle anyone could ask for."
That was what Neku really thought about Uncle H. The man took him in and was the first adult to really, truly understand him. He was the relative that Neku could finally, proudly say was part of his family.
"Thanks, kid. You're the best nephew a man could ask for," said Hanekoma. "Although, ya know, you could do with minding rumours better." He mock-whispered to Shiki. "To tell ya the truth, this guy was in tears over you."
Sometimes Hanekoma did say some unnecessarily embarrassing things such as that. Now Neku knew how Joshua felt about his dad. Guess it was all part of being family, right? Right. So Neku would just let that last thing slide because Hanekoma did do him a huge favour…even if Shiki had started staring at Neku again and Joshua looked like he was storing that information for later blackmail purposes.
"Anyway," said Neku, attempting to herd his friends into the building, "we should probably go in right now."
"Enjoy the show, kids," said his uncle. "We're cutting her cake at your house later, right? See you then."
"Yeah, see you." Neku turned just before they entered the concert hall. "Thanks again Uncle H. I really owe you." For everything.
Once they entered the concert hall, the volume of sound entering their ears increased tenfold. There were people chatting and talking excitedly to one another everywhere. The stage was lit up with coloured spotlights moving around, shining onto the audience every now and then.
"Where'd ya guys, wanna stand?" asked Beat.
"Since we've got the VIP tickets, we can go to the front," said Rhyme, referring the area just in front of the stage, which was cornered of by metal bars that had been placed across the room, with a few security guards at either side that would open the chain to allow those permitted to that area to go in.
They walked up to the guard on their side of the stage, flashing their passes with grins at each other.
"Hey! It is him! Ne-kun! Over here!" There was only one person who called him that.
"Do you mind going ahead first? I'll be with you guys in a sec."
Though Shiki tilted her head, once again confused, Beat, Rhyme and Joshua nodded in understanding and went into the front area first.
Just as he thought, he found Coco, complete with her pink-bear cardigan, standing not too far behind him. She was not by herself though – Kazemaru was with her.
"Hey, Neku. It's been a while! I didn't think we'd see you here. We got tickets 'cause Class Prez managed to reserve some for us. I saw Shiki with you earlier. I'm glad she's looking better." She glanced to the boy next to her. "Kaze-kun's almost in top shape now too."
Neku had not seen Kazemaru since that day in Miyashita park. Coco would often text Neku asking about Shiki, since he had told her that he had found her. She seemed genuinely concerned about Shiki and he felt obliged to tell her about how Shiki was doing. Coco would also tell him about Kazemaru's health progress but Neku coudn't find it in himself to actually go and see him. He looked better now though. He didn't have the same look in his eyes as before. He looked more like when Neku had first met the two. Yet there was also something new about him…a sort of hollowness. He recognised it, because Neku had seen that same look in himself when he looked in the mirror, after his Pact with Shiki had first ended.
Coco tugged at Kazemaru's sleeve. Neku figured what she wanted him to do. She wanted Kazemaru to apologise to Neku, didn't she?
Kazemaru opened his mouth, though he closed it again and looked away.
Well, that was to be expected. Neku didn't know what to say either.
"Um…Kaze-kun…?" Coco said slowly.
"It's not happening, Coco." Those were the first words that Kazemaru spoke in front of Neku since back then and Neku, even after all this time could understand them without explanation. The apology was not happening because it would be far too late to apologise for anything now. Would Kazemaru even mean it? Maybe not.
They both knew what Coco wanted – for things to be the same as they were when they first met. That was not happening either. "Things have changed."
The bond between the three was not the same as it had been at the start. For better or for worse, it had changed.
"I know…I just hoped that…"
The downcast expression that began to appear on Coco's face only lasted for a second before Kazemaru let out an exaggerated sigh. "C'mon Coco, don't look like that. We may not be friends but Sakuraba and I still play soccer, right? We'll see a lot of each other when we're national players, so it's not like I'll be able to avoid this idiot's face forever."
Kazemaru finally looked Neku in the face again and Neku understood. Even with all this, Kazemaru still had the same dream and Neku did too.
"In case you're forgot, we still need to get through that training camp before we're national anything."
"You know what? If there's one thing that hasn't changed," Kazemaru punched Neku's shoulder, "it's that you're the biggest wise-ass ever. Always has been."
"And always will be?"
"Something like that."
Seeing that Coco finally had a smile on her face again, Neku left with a nod to the both of them. Yeah, a bond that was changed was still a bond nevertheless.
Walking to where Shiki and the others were standing, he was about to say 'I'm back' when a loud screech underfoot interrupted him.
I stepped on something!? What the heck did I – oh it's you.
"How the hell did Nimew get in here?"
No one answered him, though, as Shiki squealed in delight and picked the cat up, cradling it close to her. "Is this your cat, Neku? It's so cute!" The cat purred into Shiki's arms seeming to be just as happy to see her as Shiki was to see it.
"Well, it was living around the Kiryu grounds for quite a while but since Neku liked it so much, he kept it." Oh yeah, it had been Joshua's originally.
"It's not really that I like it, I just kind of got used to having it around," said Neku, while the cat gave him a 'right back at you' look. "Kind of like why I still hang around with you, Joshua."
Beat, Rhyme and Shiki laughed while Joshua 'tsked'. "You wound me, Neku."
Shiki let the cat back down and it scurried off to who knew where, as the lights died down and the announcer came on stage to welcome them all.
"Hey, Neku?" said Shiki in a whisper, moving closer to him.
"Yeah?"
"This birthday is turning out to be one of the best I've ever had. Thank you so much Neku." Shiki said sincerely. "I wish I could repay you somehow."
If only she knew. "I'm kind of the one doing the repaying. You might not remember, but there are a lot of things that I only have now because of you."
"…I wish I could remember." Shiki smiled wistfully. "Whatever memories I had with you, I'm sure that they were ones I would treasure."
Shiki…what if I…no one seems to be looking...Neku clumsily took her hand into his, holding his breath.
Shiki's eyes widened. Ah, crap, shouldn't have done that. Shiki moved her hand – now things are going to be awkward, dammit – and intertwined their fingers together. Oh…
Using his other hand, Neku tugged at his spike, unable to stop himself from smiling like an idiot.
"And now – opening up with her debut performance with a dazzling remix of an intensely popular song – hereeeee's Hype-chan!"
The crowd went wild as the spotlight appeared, shining down on the girl as the coloured lights began to flash again. The music started into something very familiar, the electronic sounds echoing within the room.
"I know this song!" Shiki shouted. "Wow, I haven't heard this song in ages and – ahh!"
"Brain-ware, main-wave, psycho got a high kick, collect and select, show me your best set!"
The hold on Neku's hand tightened as Shiki started clutching her head.
"Crystals, blister, it's all over now, psycho cane, you're so keen, I need more candy canes."
"Shiki? What's wrong? Shiki?!" What was happening to her? Why was she – the pin! The pin attached to Shiki was glowing.
"Cold cake, cold break, freak got a high kick, Mr. Twister, moist with roistering."
What was it doing to her? It couldn't be that - !
"Stick it up, take it up, step aside and see the world, effect has defects, take a bow to the moon."
"Shit! Priss, Rhyme! Somethin's happening to Shiki!"
"Oh no! Shiki! Hang in there!"
"This place is noisy enough without you shouting, Beat, what are you going on about – oh Shiki is…Oh. I see! That's it! That's what it meant!"
"Morning rays, Hairspray Queens, Get on their way to their nests, the west. Honest, they once had a dream, bells of society, in the shells of their unity."
"Argh!" Neku's head was hurting now too?!
Images and sounds surged into his senses, ones that we're coming from the concert hall. Snippets of his memories – no – of their memories, flowing through his mind in reverse. The final fight, meeting Kazemaru and Coco, training, Joshua's concert, meeting Hanekoma, Joshua entering his class, his fight with the Reapers, Neku's first Ebisu match, Nimew's arrival, having his first bowl of ramen with Beat and Rhyme - everything. And everything to do with Shiki – all the conversations they ever had, the painful feelings of her departure, the first time that he was able to hold her hand, the moment when she became visible to him, when she first she brought out Mr. Mew, the time where they learnt her name –
"Cornet & spin it, the sound flows follows 'til their home…"
the moment in time where this exact song had played, where his hurt had hurt just as much -
"Dragged by the power of the dreams…"
and where he first heard her voice.
"That power is yet unknown."
That last line…Neku felt his heart start to thud faster as he the pain subsided and the hold on his hand started to loosen. Shiki…was that…did you…?
"Neku!" Shiki wrapped threw her arms around Neku and held him tightly. "Neku, Neku, Neku!" He realised she was sobbing as she repeated his name over and over again.
"Heehee. Her Soul seems to be sparkling. I think we've got our Shiki back, guys."
"Bwaaah! Really? She remembers us!?"
"Beat! Don't cry!"
"I ain't crying, Rhyme! You're seein' things!"
"Quiet it down, Beat. Why don't we let those two have their moment, hm?"
Was this real? Neku wasn't dreaming was he? Did she really remember him?
There is a way to find out…
"Stalker? Do you finally remember everything?"
Shiki stiffened. Then she lifted her head to meet Neku's eyes with a glare. "I told you not to call me that!"
He didn't need to be able to read her mind or her feelings to realise that yes, she did remember him. He smiled at her warmly. "You ruined the moment, as always, Shiki."
Her expression then softened. "Sorry – and I'm sorry for worrying you so much."
"It's okay. I think it's become something like my job to worry about you."
"Eh? Something like…" She turned pink. 'Something like –'
"…Looks like you just remembered something else."
"U-uh. Well, you see. This is kind of embarrassing. It's not like I didn't mean…um…what I said back then, it's just that I thought I'd never see you again so I had to say it. If you think it makes things kind of awkward, you don't really have to think about it too much. I mean, the feeling is still there but if you don't –"
Neku kissed her right then and there, effectively shutting her up.
"- feel the same way then you can just forget what I said," Shiki finished when he pulled away, her face now in a full blush and her voice having raised about a whole octave.
"Didn't I say that you talk too much?" he said. "I don't plan about forgetting anything, so you better not forget me anymore either. Promise?"
Finally, Shiki smiled. "I promise on my Soul."
And that meant everything to them, because their Souls had been connected since long ago.
Neku noticed three big grins shooting at him from behind Shiki. "Do you guys mind?" This caused Shiki to turn around, and as she saw the looks on her friends' faces, she covered her own.
"Hey, we didn't interrupt you, did we?" said Joshua. "As this is a happy reunion, I'll save my remarks for later."
"I ain't sayin' anything! An' I wasn't cryin'!"
"I don't have anything to say either. Only, can we have a hug too, Shiki?"
Beat really did wail this time and pulled every single one of them into a group hug. Joshua huffed indignantly and Rhyme giggled. Shiki was smiling brighter than any light in the room and Neku held on tightly to all of them.
Thinking about it now, coming back to Shibuya had been the best thing to have happened to him. All the things that he had loathed from before – friends, family, dreams – were things that he now cherished.
The memory of this moment right now was one that he would never want to trade.
Not for anything.
Sanctuary
A cuppa joe each for the young 'uns, coming right up.
Ugh, more humans. I just want a peaceful nap!
Teehee, this is certainly a lovely celebration.
All's well that ends well, after all.
Bwaaah! We ain't ending! We're only gettin' started!
We'll start with new memories – ones that we'll always keep in our hearts!
You're all as noisy as ever…
But you know -
I'm glad I met you guys.
Ta…da..aa. Um..guys…I think I just finished my fic. Oh shoot…guys I'm actually starting to feel tears coming up, what is this, I didn't think I would actually cry. Great, I finally have the chapter – the last chapter – end on a happy note and yet now I'm sort-of-kind-of nearly crying. Okay. I'm okay. I'm cool. Deep breaths.
Ahem.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR READING SANCTUARY. Whether you've been here from the start, or joined us as I was finishing this fic, or even if you read this after I have completed this fic, thank you so much for reading it right up to the end. I hope that you've all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing this.
The support that I've gotten for Sanctuary is insane and really, really cannot thank you all enough. I love you all – all the people who have followed this, put this on their favourites, and gave me such wonderful reviews and all my silent readers too. You all deserve the best things in life and I wish you all good luck for whatever you're doing!
And although I can't personally give you the best things in life, I'm delivering you more bonus content at the end of the chapter!
Here's the last 'thank you' corner ;-;
Thank you to the amazing people who followed/favourited in the last chapter - LightzChristmas22, Aizen135, Plockiie, Tally-Tamale, Astaria Mel Kanariane - and thank you again to everyone who has ever followed or put this on their favourite.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: B.A.G-GOMEZ, Omega Zekrom, RagnartheSemiGreen, A Paper Flower, Chronic Guardian, Faliara, Michael Mario, cutekitty5597, The Professor of time, LightzChristmas22, Reilie, ElementLegend, Xerzo LotCN, I'll Break Your Heart, Aizen135, CirciFox81314, Alice and The Mad Hatter, Astaria Mel Kanariane
Primo: Aww, sorry the chapter made you cry. I'm sure they were good tears, though! :D Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews you've always given me.
YOLO: Yep! Like Rhyme said, all's well that ends well. And lol, guess they did end up having a kiss after all xD
Chocolate Kiss: Ehehe, I'm glad you feel that way! Thank you so much :D
miki: Thank you so much! I hope that you received sufficient NeShiki feels from this chapter!
Desperate Me: Aaand now you know what happened xD Thank you for reading!
I want to give a special shout out to Chronic Guardian. He's been the most amazing reviewer, who has given up precious time to help correct errors in Sanctuary along the way. If you ever reread Sanctuary, you'll find less mistakes and a better reading experience, and I owe that to CG. Thank you so much.
You guys are the best reviewers in the world. Always remember that. Reviews bring smiles to writers' faces, so I encourage you to review other fics too!
Heck, while I'm at it - reviews are always welcome here no matter when you've read this fic. Especially at the end. :D
…Oh gosh, I can't end this note without a few last things. I lied. This isn't the last chapter. Well, that's a lie too. It is and it isn't. Meaning? You know how TWEWY had Another Day and Secret Reports? - YEAH :D The extra chapters won't have a schedule, so it wouldn't hurt if you put this story on follow. It'll include some (hopefully) interesting things, such as the contents as Angel-Joshua's letters. Look forward to them!
I'm going to have a new AU TWEWY fanfiction up very soon. I've even mentioned the title here in this chapter. This time the spotlight will be shared more equally between Neku and his Partners. The Shopkeepers of TWEWY will have a few roles too, which will be fun. If anything, you could always read it for Nimew. xD So yes, check that out if you're not tired of my writing yet!
Thanks again for everything!
-Dina (30/12/2013)
Bonus Content
(For previous content, refer to the end of Chapter Seven and Chapter Fourteen)
Ringtones from Beyond (All TWEWY OST)
15. MMM
16. Jump Over Yourself (J.O.Y)
17. Give Me All Your Love
18. Deja Vu
19. Emptiness and…
20. Someday
21. Lullaby for You
22. None
23. (Live) Twister – Kingdom Mix
Pseudo Poem Perspective
15. Rhyme
16. Hanekoma
17. Beat
18. Nimew
19. Joshua
20. Neku
21. Shiki
22. Neku
23. Hanekoma, Nimew, Joshua, Rhyme, Beat, Shiki and Neku
Sanctuary Playlist
These are songs that affiliate with Sanctuary. I don't really listen to music while I write, because I can't concentrate, usually, so the songs listed are either songs I listen to regularly otherwise which help with the ideas or are songs that I thought would fit with Sanctuary after I finished writing it.
** - Songs that are most relevant/important for the section. Listen to them. (Nowwwwww. You can listen to them while reading the other bonuses!).
General – Sanctuary (Utada Hikaru) – Sooner or Later (Mat Kearney) – No Boundaries (Kris Allen) – Let's Get it Started (Black Eyed Peas) – Little Wonders (Rob Thomas) – Beautiful World (Coldplay), – Shattered (Trading Yesterday)**
Neku – Louder Than Thunder (TDWP)** – Blame it on the Girls (Mika) – This Love This Hate (Hollywood Undead)) – Titanium (Rihanna)
Shiki – Sharada (Skye Sweetnam) – The Ballad of Mona Lisa (Panic! At the Disco) – Air planes (Hayley Williams) – Homeless Heart** - Atomic (She)
Beat – Lost in the Echo (Linkin Park) – Hero (Skillet)** – Teenagers (My Chemical Romance) - This is Gospel (Panic! At the Disco)
Rhyme – Better Days (Goo goo dolls) – Unwritten (Natasha Bedingfield) – Safe and Sound (Taylor Swift) – Brave (Sara Bareilles)**
Joshua – Perfect (Simple Plan) – Viva la Vida (Coldplay) – Everybody Loves Me (One Republic) – Song from a Secret Garden (Secret Garden)**
Nimew - Lazy Day (Bruno Mars) – Everybody Wants to be a Cat (The Aristocrats)**
Hanekoma - Sweet Serendipity (Lee Dewyze)**
Reapers – City (Hollywood Undead) – Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) – My Songs Know What You Did in The Dark (Fall Out Boys) **
Kazemaru – You're Gonna Go Far Kid (The Offspring) – Monster (Rihanna & Eminem) – Demons (Imagine Dragons)** – Fight Inside (Red)
Coco – F*ckin Perfect (Pink) – Alice Underground (Avril Lavigne)**
Neku/Shiki – It's Not Over (Daughtry) – Painting Flowers (All Time Low) – All This Time (One Republic) – February Air (Lights) – All You Wanted (Michelle Branch) – Never Knew I Needed (Neyo)**—Memory (Sugarcult) – Happily Ever After (Rachel Taylor) – Accidentally in Love (Counting Crows) – Never Be the Same (Red)**
Kazemaru/Coco – Parachute (Ingrid Michaelson)– La la la (The Cab) – One More Day (Lydia)**—Haunted (Taylor Swift) - Love The Way You Lie (Rihanna& Eminem [both parts]) – Unconditionally (Katy Perry)
Timeline
(Chapter 15)
5 May Sun – Rhyme and Joshua are able to 'see' Shiki for the first time – Beat is unable to. Training commences. Joshua oversees a practice fight between Neku and Shiki versus Rhyme. At some point, Rhyme momentarily loses control over her powers, almost causing dangerous harm to Shiki, however Joshua suggests more training is needed. Neku gets angry and Joshua accuses Neku of being possessive, much to his displeasure. Beat wonders where his place in this fight will be, though Neku reassures him that he is needed.
(Chapter 16)
16 May Thurs – Hanekoma invites Neku to dinner with him and they visit the CAT studio. Neku suggests the stage name 'Hype' for a girl they see still singing in the studio. Hanekoma advises Neku that having a dream would be a good thing, however Neku has more important things to take care of at the moment, such as the Spirits. The Spirit that had previously attacked Joshua and his mother was found to have been spying on Neku. Neku and Shiki engaged the Spirit, known as 'Uzuki' to battle and won. Uzuki escaped, however, as Neku hesitated due to having bad memories triggered and being reluctant about erasing another's existence.
(Chapter 17/18/19)
17 May Fri – Neku receives a letter in class, suspecting it to be from Uzuki, however it simply turns out to be a calling out to a confession by Mina Takagi. Neku and the others are in Joshua's car, about to head to his house for more training when Joshua senses the Boss in Miyashita Park. They get out and split up trying to search for the source of the Soul Energy. Neku runs into Coco and Kazemaru, his former friends from middle school. The conversation is not heading in a good direction for Neku but it is interrupted when Uzuki appears, taunting Neku. He waits, but Shiki fails to call him. He spots another Spirit behind the fountain and makes to attack him, thinking he is the Boss. Neku recognises him and it is revealed that Kazemaru is the 'Boss' of the Spirits, or as they call themselves – The Reapers. The others catch up to Neku, who is unable to speak anymore. Kazemaru challenges them to a final showdown the next day, which they agree to. Shaken, after an outburst, Neku runs away from his friends. Shiki finally contacts him, apparently unable to have done so before due to the overwhelming surge of emotion on Neku's end. Neku, not wanting to keep Shiki in the dark anymore, tells her about his past. Not long after he is finished, Neku is shocked as Coco appeared at his doorstep. Letting her in, nevertheless, Coco apologises to him and asks that he help save Kazemaru. Coco leaves and Neku is unsure about her request, though he is determined to face Kazemaru now. He shares a heartfelt moment with Shiki, in which she finally gains the ability to touch things.
(Chapter 19/20)
18 May Sat – Neku meets up with his friends at Shibuya Station, telling them that they will go through with the fight. On the way to Miyashita Park, Joshua gives each of them a pin that has a store of Joshua's Soul Energy, to act as boosts for the fight. Arriving at the entrance of the park, they meet Kazemaru and exchange words before the fight. The other Reapers arrive, including three of the most powerful Spirits: Uzuki, Kariya and Minamimoto. Kazemaru goes on deeper in the park while Neku and his friends have to deal with the mass of Spirits. Beat leads away the majority of the Spirits towards the skateboard area, where he defeats them, though he depletes all of his energy in the process. Rhyme, who went after him, catches up to Uzuki who had been on the way to aid the other Reapers. She manages to stop Uzuki, preventing Uzuki from further movement and then goes to find Beat. Joshua, Neku and Shiki come across Kariya, who is on his own. Urging them to go ahead, Joshua stalls Kariya verbally at first, before he is forced to use his now limited energy to contain him. Neku and Shiki are ambushed by Minamimoto. Shiki becomes unable to fight as she regains memories of her death – the cause turning out to be the man they are fighting right then. Neku somehow manages to knock Minamimoto out and they move deeper to face off against Kazemaru. Coco, however, is at the scene, trying to talk Kazemaru out of fighting, who wants nothing more but for her to leave. Minamimoto flies in, seeming to not have been completely defeated. He, against Kazemaru's will, fused his Soul closer to Kazemaru's, causing a more violent and dangerous personality to emerge out of him. Shiki takes on Minamimoto while Neku fights Kazemaru. Seeing Kazemaru's original will struggling to break out, Neku strikes him at his Soul. This causes his Soul to go beserk. At the same time, Minamimoto strikes Shiki down. As Neku and Minamimoto exchange places, Minamimoto uses all that is left of Kazemaru's energy to aim a beam to sever Neku and Shiki's Pact. Coco dives in to protect the two and with the last bit of will Kazemaru has left, he redirects Minamimoto's beam to himself, severing all the other Reapers' Pacts. Kariya arrives to make sure Minamimoto stays down, followed by Joshua. Neku and Kariya sever Minamimoto's Pact for good. Kazemaru is left, damaged by the strain on his Soul, with Coco crying over him. Beat and Rhyme arrive and the fight is finally over.
(Chapter 21)
20 May Mon – Things seem to have returned to normal, however there seems to be something off about Shiki. Afterwards, Neku is scouted by Mick, who invites him to attend a training camp that decides representatives for Japan's national soccer players. Reminded of his old dream with Kazemaru, Neku begins to think about the option.
26 May Sun – Shiki asks Neku to go sightseeing with her and Neku starts to have a bad feeling about whatever is bothering Shiki. They visit Hachiko where Neku's concern grows. With their next destination being Miyashita Park, Shiki tells Neku that their Pact is fading. Though he is saddened by the news, Neku hoped to make the most of his time together with Shiki, suggesting they go to a mural next. Unfortunately, Shiki disappears. She manages to come back for one last goodbye before she is gone for good, leaving Neku devastated.
(Chapter 22)
27 May Mon – Joshua knew of the possibility of Shiki's departure, though he kept quiet so that she could leave without extra concern. They are all, however, still all frustrated and left in disbelief that she is gone. Shiki's contact is still in his phone, apparently a footprint of her Soul. They discuss paying Shiki their last respects. Neku, rather than being angry, feels empty instead.
(Chapter 22/23)
14 June Fri – Neku, in the midst of grieving for Shiki is called by Hanekoma for a talk. Neku breaks down, crying, having not done so for the period of time since Shiki had gone. Feeling slightly better after that, Neku leaves, bumping into Hype and Coco who seem to know each other. Hearing that Kazemaru is recovering, Neku heads over to Miyashita Park. After making a wish, Neku meets with Eri, Shiki's best friend. Neku learns that Shiki's full name is 'Shiki Misaki' and asks Eri if they can go see Shiki, expecting to visit her grave or the place where her ashes are kept. They decide to buy flowers, stopping by the hospital as the local flower shop is closed. Eri leads Neku up to a hospital room to his confusion – it turns out to be Shiki's room as she had been in a coma all this time. Eri gives Neku time on his own and Neku calls the others to let them know. With an unmeasurable amount of relief, Neku holds Shiki's hand when suddenly his phone reacts, the contact deleting and Shiki wakes up. She does not remember Neku. The others arrive and Shiki does not remember them either. Even so, she tells them Neku he can visit her again. Neku exits the room to find that she had been staying in the room named 'Sanctuary' and swears to stay by her side.
6 July Sat – It is Shiki's birthday. Neku picks her up from the hospital after her exercises and gives her the present he got for her. They go to Ebisu where Neku and Beat play in the Inter-High tournament's district finals. They then have lunch at Ramen Don. Once finished, Joshua received a letter from the Other Joshua along with a pin to give to Shiki. They then left to meet Hanekoma, who gives them passes for a concert. In there, Neku meets Coco and Kazemaru briefly, exchanging a few words with them before returning to his friends. Shiki thanks Neku for being with her and 'Twister' starts playing. The pin glows while Shiki and Neku both suffer from pain in their heads. Once it subsides, Shiki hugs Neku and she has regained her memory. Sharing another moment, the two promise not to forget each other. Joshua, Beat, Rhyme, Shiki and Neku all gather together in a group hug and Neku is grateful for his friends and for Shibuya.
Trivia!
~ Sanctuary was always going to be a coma fic. The concept of a person being a ghost sticking around with another person while actually being in a coma was the main idea. It wasn't originally a TWEWY specific idea. Actually, it could have been a pure normal high school romance fanfic for any couple I thought would fit. [e.g. I think I considered RokuNami or Wishfulshipping at some point]. When I decided to do it for Neku and Shiki I was just like 'hold up, hold up, hold up…a normal romance story is boring. I don't want to write that…oh but what if she couldn't wake up from her coma because she needed to do something…and Neku needs an emo backstory…oh wait and how about they don't know she's in a coma [ahaha I can make it a 'plot twist' at the end or something lol]…oh we need fighting in this, that'll be cool! And soccer. Yeah!'
~The story of how I got the title 'Sanctuary' is a simple one. Basically, I finished planning the fic in my head and I wrote some sort of plan down. All I needed was a title and I was listening to my mp3 and Utada Hikaru's 'Sanctuary' came up. Then: 'Oh my gosh, that would really work! It sounds cool too. Woot. Title found!'
~I wrote chapters one, two, three and most of eighteen before I published this fic. I think I've mentioned this before…but yeah, eighteen because it was the flashback chapter. I only tweaked the flashbacks a little bit before putting up chapter eighteen, though all the dialogue before, between and after the flashbacks were done later.
~In chapter one, if you read the part where Neku turns on the TV, you'll see the hint that tells you how Shiki died. I remember when I wrote the sentence down I was kind of rubbing my hands together thinking, 'HAHAHA. Foreshadowing! Yes! I can do it too!'
~In chapter two, the girl who accidentally called Neku was Eri. Well, I'm sure you guys figured that out yourselves but might as well say it here in case you guys didn't catch that.
~I think Beat really fits the goalkeeping position for soccer. He just seems like the type, I think.
~Angel-Joshua has a slightly different speech pattern than 'Yoshiya'. When I write Angel-Joshua, I purposefully don't use contractions. For example, Yoshiya would say 'aren't' and 'I'll' while Angel-Joshua would say 'are not' and 'I will'. So! If you ever reread Sanctuary and see Angel-Joshua using a contraction such as 'I've' instead of 'I have', that's an error and you are very welcomed to let me know so I can correct it! Why would they have different speech patterns, you ask? I thought not-using contractions would make Angel-Joshua sound more angel-like. –shrugs-
~I came up with Joshua's backstory in Berlin, Germany. Basically, I knew that I wanted Joshua to have had something to do with Shiki first getting a Pact with Neku but then I couldn't think of a reason why Joshua would have a grudge against Shiki. While on a school trip in Berlin, I was with one of my best friends and told her not to talk to me for about ten minutes while we walked around the park and I brainstormed. Then it came to me and I was like 'I HAVE IT. JOSHUAAA. Whoops, it's angsty though lol sorry everyone.'
~Shiki and Neku having a Soul connection is really sweet, isn't it? It's like, they're meant to be with each other! You could even say…they're Soulmates. [-shot because people don't like my puns as much as I think they do-]
~I got confused between Ai and Mina and wrote the confession chapter using the wrong people. I had 'Ai' as the one doing the confession, but that wouldn't make sense since we already introduced Ai in chapter eight as Beat's friend. Luckily for me, no one noticed that plot hole at the time and I managed to change it before anyone did. Or maybe they did notice but didn't point it out, to spare my feelings, which is cool too. Although some became confused in chapter twenty two because they thought I wrote the wrong names. Ehehe. Sorry!
~Chapter twenty two was named 'Ashes' for several reasons. One was so that you guys really would think she was dead and it was over. But it also is related to how phoenixes are reborn from ashes with a new life and in a way Shiki gained new life when she woke up from the coma. #Symbolism Swag.
~Eri's meeting with Neku in chapter twenty two was always planned to happen. In my head I came up with several ways their conversation would go, but it all had to end up with Neku going to the hospital with Eri without Eri revealing Shiki was alive beforehand. That was kind of a challenge but I got there in the end.
~Hype-chan's role in this story was always going to be her singing Twister. I decided that Shiki when Shiki woke up she would forget about Neku since the start and I knew I wanted her to gain her memories back with Twister playing. And because I wanted to have Hype-chan cameo in this fic I was like 'she can sing it!'. But then I kind of wanted to introduce her beforehand to make it more special. I think at one point I was going to make her Kazemaru's cousin but I think being Class Prez is more cool xD (Or she can be Class Prez and Kazemaru's cousin. Distantly related? Haha x3)
~I nearly didn't include Neku kissing Shiki in this chapter. Mainly because I just find that I can't write them, hence why you get the non-descriptive one in this. But I think if I was reading this and they didn't kiss after all that trouble I would have come for the writer's head.
~I really liked writing Coco into this story. There aren't a lot of fics that actually have her in it, so I was really determined to have her in this fic. So in the original planning I stared at Coco's sprite and thought 'you shall be Neku's childhood friend! And there shall be angst bestowed upon you. Hehe…' or something of the sort.
~I didn't really think of them as OCs when I wrote them but I actually had quite a few OCs. I really didn't think of Dr. Bito and Mr. Kiryu as OCs until someone reviewed on them while addressing them as OCs and I was like '…oh yeah. They are OCs aren't they?' Come to think of it, Kazemaru's an OC and he had a pretty big role. I somehow really like his character a lot. So this is why people write OC stories…You get pretty attached to characters you create yourself. So! Don't look down on OCs! They're actually fun to write about. My favourite OC that I created was Nimew.
~I really ship Kazemaru and Coco together. This kind of relates to the OC thing. I kind of wondered why people wrote a lot of OC/character stories. I get it. I GET IT NOW. I mean, like at first it was just going to be a necessary plot device to make the angst grow but then while thinking about what they would say to each other in their dialogue and their actions I started thinking about why they would act like that towards each other. I ended up creating a really angsty ship which I really like. Yeah, you might be seeing some of that in one of the extra chapters.
Omakes:
Mina Takagi and Ai Urahara:
"H-he rejected me, Ai! He rejected me! For that other girl!"
"I know, I know, I'll deal with him later."
"Huh? No! You don't have to do that…Hey, how about I help you with your love life?!"
"Me? Mine is basically non-existent."
"Ehehe, you say that, but I totally saw you eyeing that soccer scout from earlier!"
"You don't miss anything, as usual Mina. But it's okay, I've already got a plan."
Shooter Dan – Part 2:
At the sound of the doorbell, Rhyme opened it upr.
"Hey, Rhyme! Ready to start on our wicked science project? Best one gets a prize, remember! Let's finish this quickly!"
"Slow and steady wins the race, Shooter. We should take our time so that we can get the best results."
"Ohhh! That makes sense. You're so smart Rhyme! Your ideas are like wham!"
"Thanks! Come in! We can work in my room!"
Just as they were about to head in, they found Beat barricading the door.
"Whaddya think you're tryin' to do, punk?!"
"What's up, senpai?"
"That ain't workin' on me! I don't care what Priss said, Rhyme's too young!"
"Bro, chill. What's your deal?"
Rhyme, having eventually heard of the conversation she had been missing for, rolled her eyes. "Beat! Don't get any weird ideas! We're just doing a science project. You can come and sit in if you want."
Beat blinked and looked at the two innocent faces before him. "…Oh, sorry yo. You're right, I'm just being weird."
Smiling at her big brother, Rhyme headed into her room first. What was Beat worried about? This was Rhyme after all! Besides, Beat thought that Shooter had the same amount of brains as him. A kid like him wouldn't try and do anything to Rhyme!
"Welll, see ya later bro. I'm sure I'll have lots of fun with Rhyme, Beat-senpai."
Was that just now really Shooter? That expression looked...different.
Close!
Eh?
Click!
EH?
Lock!
EHHH?
"NOO! RHYME!"
The Adventures of Nimew - Part 5
What happened to that other human?
The one that for some reason he could see but was, until recently, unable to make physical contact with.
He liked that human more than Neku.
"Meow?"
He climbed onto Neku's chest as he was about to go to sleep, knowing that Neku hated that.
Neku said nothing, this time.
"Meow…"
Something was wrong.
The boy even stroked the cat's head, as if wanting it to stay there.
Something was very wrong.
Drinking Buddies – Part 2
"Ehh! Hanekooomaaa nice of you to joiiin us."
"Hane, neko, nekomaaa, neko, neko nyaaaa. Aliens!"
"And ya ask me why I don't usually want to drink with you two."
"You must drink with us! We haveee –hic – important things to discuss with our cute little kouhai!"
"Shopping with kouhaiiiiiyuuuu pick and choooseee….if you buy here we're gonna make you loooose. Oh, isn't that wroooong?"
"That's it, Yuu, Kenji, I'm driving you two back home."
"Nuuu! I'm a doctor you know!"
"I know."
"And I'm Yuuuuu. Or am I mee!?"
"You're you."
One of the things that Kyohei Sakuraba left for Hanekoma was the responsibility of taking his drunk friends back home.
He bet Kyohei was laughing it up at him in heaven.
Ai Urahara and Beat:
"Thanks for the treat, Ai! You're the best!"
"Well, you did win the game, so you deserve it."
"Man, wish I could make it up to you."
"There is one thing…"
"Yeah!?"
"Could you introduce me to that soccer scout? The cute brunette guy? Neku mentioned his name was Makoto but no way in hell am I asking him for help!"
"…"
"Beat? What's wrong?"
"…"
"Earth to Beat?"
"…Ahh! Mr. Doi! Hit me up with one more bowl – it's on Ai, for a favour."
"Heh, I knew I could count on you, Beat. You're an awesome friend."
She hugged Beat and he hastily gulped down his ramen, face turning red.
"…Yeah, I know."
Kazemaru and Coco:
Girls at Shibuya High also often went to watch the soccer practices.
"If we're talking about Kazemaru, isn't he the best guy in our year?"
"Isn't he?! I heard that he's really nice and really cool. Nothing ever bothers him!"
Sigh. "Yeah, but isn't he going out with Atarashi? She's so cute – it's like a match made in heaven!"
"Look, here she comes now."
"I think Kazemaru just saw her."
Crash!
"…Did he just crash into the goalpost?"
"Could it be that he's actually the nervous type?"
The girls laughed.
"No way, that doesn't fit Kazemaru's image at all!"
Hype it up!
She stared at the instructions her choreographer had written for her.
Hype-chan wasn't sure if she could sing and dance at the same time.
But if that's what it took to be an idol.
Step left, step right…twiiiiirl and pose!
Oh! She could do this.
"Step left, step right, twirl and pose!"
"Hype-chan? You ready for our next recording session."
When Hanekoma entered the studio, he found Hype-chan, headphones on and sitting firmly on her chair.
"I thought I heard someone…nah, must be hearing things." He laughed at her blank face. "Geez, girl. Sometimes, I even mistake you for a statue."
Step left, step right, twirl and pose!
Joshua and Shiki:
"So, you go to St. Ursula's don't you?"
"Eh? Yes, I do!"
"I would have gone to St. Michael's if I didn't go to Ebisu. The food at those schools are much better, aren't they?"
"Oh! Yeah, that's why no one usually brings any bento, since we have a cafeteria."
"Ah, all we have is one measly little shop. The food there is appalling."
Neku looked down at the dorayaki he had earlier brought from Ebisu's school store.
"Really? I'm sure it's not! I'd like to visit Ebisu one day."
"That won't be a problem, dear. I'll even take you around. The school is not that big. I can have Mr. Kitaniji pick you up."
"That's alright, my driver could probably send me."
"Alright, you rich kids, can we please change topic?"
Joshua smirked. "Oh Neku, just because you don't understand."
"O-oh! Sorry, Neku, I probably sounded really stuck up just now."
"Joshua did but don't worry about yourself. I'll take you around Ebisu."
"Will I finally get to watch one of your soccer matches then, Neku?"
"Yep."
When Shiki wasn't looking, Neku glared at Joshua, who could only laugh at his childishness.
Rhyme Time:
"An' that Shooter kid scared the hell outta me. I mean, nothing happened according to Rhyme but still! You know!"
"Dear, you can't shield her from boys forever. She's going to get a boyfriend one day, you know."
"Priss. I know Phones is fine with it but don't call me 'dear'."
"Hey! Who said I was fine with it?"
At that moment, Rhyme walked down the corridor alone but she didn't see them. In the very next, a group of boys who had been leaning against the walls not far from them started to whisper.
"Go for it! Ask her out!"
"No way! I'll totally get rejected! Do you know how many guys like her?"
"Yeah, but no one's actually asked her."
"That's 'cause she's got Shuto Dan hanging around her all the time – that kid may look like an idiot but he's surprisingly sly."
"Shooter? Pfft, don't even kid about that."
"No, I'm serious. He even went to her house!"
"Shit, you're joking."
"My point exactly! Now go ask her! Be a man!"
"U-uh…okay!"
Crack. Oh, whoops, Beat seemed to have cracked his knuckles. That didn't go unnoticed.
"Holy crap that's Beat-senpai. That's her brother I can't do this. I can't do this."
"Just go, man! You've liked her for forever, right? We'll hold him off!"
In a noble gesture, the boy nodded and ran off to confess. The other boys made a wall, blocking Beat's path.
Well, Beat could easily push them out of the way…but…
"Argh! Let's go Priss, Phones."
Neku and Joshua exchanged smug looks with each other – Beat had grown up.
Beat glared at the boys as he turned. "But if Rhyme ever comes home cryin' I'll be looking for all of you."
Or not.
The Adventures of Nimew - Part 6
The humans seemed to have brought something called a 'cake'.
Could he eat 'cake'?
With none of them paying attention, he jumped up onto the table and took a tentative lick at it.
Hm, it was…strange. He decided that he preferred the food Neku usually gave him. If only he could get to it…
Oh! His old human was filling up his bowl for him.
"My, you were hungry, weren't you Nigrum?"
He purred against his old master gratefully.
Goodbye:
"Everyone's left already," said Shiki.
"Someone's picking you up soon too, aren't they?"
"Mmhmm."
…
…
"Now that I remember, it's weird not be staying here overnight."
"Well, you can stay here whenever you want, I don't mind. You could sleep on my bed."
…
…
"Uh, of course if you did, I'd be sleeping on the sofa and all."
"O-of course!"
…
…
"My phone just buzzed, I think that's my ride."
"Yeah. I'll walk you down."
…
…
"So…um…bye."
"Yeah. Bye, Shiki."
…
She ran back and kissed Neku's cheek.
"I'll call you later, Neku."
Neku touched the spot.
"I'll…be looking forward to it."