Sweater Weather

"Shiki!" Neku choked out, the moment she was done saying his name after they'd reunited at the Statue of Hachiko.

Then Neku was running to her, and wrapping his arms around his girlfriend before he could even blink.

And it had felt… good to be in sync with Shiki before—and for her to be able to tell he was there with them, when even Rhyme hadn't known—but finally getting to hold her in his arms again like this, was even better.

And Neku had no doubt that he was grinning like a maniac now, as he kissed Shiki's head, set her down after having spun her, and began talking excitedly to her. "I missed you, Stalker… I missed your warmth. And thanks for wearing white, to remind me of why I should have missed that with you."

Shiki laughed at that, and poked Neku in the chin once for his strange comment… and weirdly enough, he wouldn't have had it any other way. "Oh, Neku. You're so odd. Comparing my white shirt with the hottest fire being white—or clear, I guess—huh?... And thinking that I would be warm like that, since I choose to wear that color? You're a genius. You always have been. But only you could make logical leaps like that. That being said… I'm so glad to have you home, too!"

And after Shiki had finished ribbing Neku—and he preferred it this way; this was how they'd been in their first week together, after all, even if now their banter was loving as opposed to angry now—she jumped into Neku's arms once more and began crying once more.

And Neku… kind of hated himself for it. He figured that they were probably happy tears coming from Shiki, sure… but he despised that she had to cry for him at all, and he promised himself that he would find a way to keep this from ever happening again.

"Chic…" he started, reaching out to dry her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

But Shiki silenced any more self-loathing words from Neku by kissing him… and it was magical.

And Neku felt a little soft in thinking that—because where was the guy who had used to be edgy?—but he couldn't really think of another word describe this.

It was as magical as much as their strong sync rate had always been.

And kissing Shiki again—and so much expertly now, then when he'd tried this when he'd been young—was like coming home for Neku, like apple pies if he were American or whatever: kind of like some of the words they'd just exchanged to each other a little bit ago. "I'm home." "Welcome home."

Shiki pulled away from Neku, gasping for air, and Neku couldn't help but to grin at her stupidly and whisper her name like he had when he'd first won the Game all those years ago. "Shiki…"

And Shiki laughed at his dumbfounded expression then, which was exactly what Neku had been hoping for since he didn't want her to hurt anymore. And she stood on her tiptoes, so she could hook her arm between his and begin strolling away with him. "Goof! You don't have to apologize for making me cry happy tears! And you don't have to be sorry for things that were out of your control, that led to the salvation of Shibuya!

"…But if you're that worried about it," Shiki stated now, a hand to her lips, as they got closer to Justice Burger at this point, "how about we both agree never to make each other cry again? I know you were worried about my safety around the Plague Noise. And beat mentioned how you cried, somewhat, when illusion-me was erased, in that illusion Coc-"

And this time, it was Neku's turn to cut Shiki off with a kiss. And it was largely because he wanted to do this—and feel her soft lips pressing against his again—rather than him not wanting others to hear that he could be emotional like Josh could be sometimes… or so he told himself.

But Shiki was no fool. Because she had her arms crossed over her chest, and seemed about to tell Neku she knew what was up, when they pulled away from each other again… this time because they were getting annoyed looks from people because of their PDA, but Neku couldn't have cared less.

"Sounds good!" Neku interrupted whatever she was going to say.

And it really did. No more did Neku hear paws of wolf Noise chasing him… or the screams of people being Erased… or the depressed thoughts of those who had already lost everything. Instead, he just heard the steady hum of the city he adored and the voice of the girl he loved.

And Shiki must have read his mind, because now she was stepping towards Neku to kiss his forehead—and he wrapped his arms around her waist, to bring her even closer to him; he never wanted to let her go again—as she told him, "It does sound good, doesn't it? No longer can you hear the not-too quiet dead, but rather the bustle of the living!"

"…Yeah," Neku agreed, suddenly having the weird thought that this would be the perfect time for winter, sweaters, cuddling between them, and hot cocoa. "…And a future like that's looking great… if you stay by my side."

Author's Note: My second attempt at Neku and Shiki's reunion. And it's so fluffy I'm gonna die. LOL