"I don't pride myself as someone who hates others, Mister H. Hate makes waste after all. But Apollo might be the single exception to my philosophy."
Sanae chuckled and bristled visibly, "No one would blame you, little skulls. After all, Apollo and Joshua have had this one-sided battle way before either of them played the Game for the first time, and unfortunately, the dynamics haven't changed. J is still on the bottom rung strengthwise, and Apollo continues to lord his superior might over him. His two victories, that being the time he bested Apollo during his third Game, and the time he won the Battle of Supremacy...well those were the only two things he's actually won against Apollo. Physically at least. I've seen him mentally outwit that bully tons of times. Unfortunately, that isn't an option now."
Rhyme shuddered and held the Composer close, making sure he could draw on her Music for comfort.
"He's trembling." She said softly "He never showed his weakness. Not even to me. Not even when I knew he hurt...knew he was conflicted or torn. He always hid it with a look, a smirk...a shrug. Oh, Mister H…" her tears were back "Is he really that weak?"
"Well, considering his body just nearly shut down, add the fact that he hasn't eaten anything today or taken in any liquids...and multiply the fact that his mind just went through the wash...yeah, Little Skulls, J is actually that weak."
Rhyme hung her head "No…" she said softly.
The moment of solemn reflection was interrupted when the limp, almost lifeless body the young girl cradled began to stir. The head turned to gaze up at her face with amethyst eyes clouded with psych and fever, and yet...they truly focused on her.
"Joshua?" the voice was soft...and hopeful.
His mouth opened, air passed through nearly crushed lungs yet nothing came out except a rasping squeal. It was a rare pleased noise, so it was obvious that the Composer was lost in the music of the girl cradling him against herself. Rhyme smiled, hoping it reached her eyes and the melody she radiated. Before she could hope too much, though, Joshua spasmed, and his limbs contorted, snapping and flailing, Rhyme having to grab his arms so they wouldn't smack her.
"Easy J!" Sanae said "I know it hurts, but you gotta bear it." He held the flailing limbs closer to the lithe body, an action not at all welcome by the spazzing boy. Joshua fought him full force, the feeling of being restrained too much for his battered psychy at the moment.
"You're weak, J...yet you fight like a grizzly! Good...very good! Apollo hasn't snuffed out your spirit yet, kiddo. Now relax, your girl is worried that you might hurt yourself."
The body went limp after a few minutes, and Sanae thought he could let go. Joshua scowled, the first sign of any emotion since his last session. The Angel frowned and increased his grip a bit. Rhyme noticed and also frowned, curious.
"He's calm. You can let him go. He clearly hates being held down, and I'd rather not see him stressed right now."
"I'm not moving." The barista said firmly "The instant I let go, he'll erupt into a full on tantrum. It'll cause his already weakened joints and possibly his spine to snap."
"He really didn't learn anything." Neku murmured, setting groceries down on the counter and coming into the room with bandages, medicine for the fever, and a Viper to wash it down. Rhyme surrendered her burden to him and the barista, but stuck close to her Composer.
"Oh he learned all right." Sanae grunted as Joshua strained against his hold, "he learned that if he plays possum, whatever is holding him will let go!"
"That's not a learned behavior, that's just instinct." The Proxy said bluntly. "Here, let he try." He put a hand on the Composer and closed his eyes. "Release control, Josh."
The sound of his mentor's voice stilled the raging being almost instantly. Joshua went limp and made no attempt to flail after the barista released him reluctantly. The Composer instead focused on Neku, purple eyes gaining the slightest bit of clarity as he surrendered to the proxy's treatments.
"That's scary." Sanae said as he let go, surrendering his boy to the orangette. "Phones, if Apollo ever figures out your control over his toy, it won't go well for Josh at all."
"Like I'd help that bastard-"
"You wouldn't have a choice."
"The hell I wouldn't!"
"Does it matter?" Both men turned to the soft voice. Rhyme clasped her hands together "I mean...wasn't Apollo watching you two train? Wouldn't he already know how Neku's methods work and use them to his advantage? Neku said that the training was delicate. Used incorrectly it could easily break Joshua, right?"
"Yeah" Neku said "I even almost went too far. I panicked, and saw his eyes cloud up. It didn't take much to get to that point. If asshole figures that out, Josh won't stand a chance."
"Of course, this is all fearful conjecture. We all know Joshua is far from broken right now, his threatening to tantrum just now proves it. Who's to say that he'd surrender to Apollo using Phones's methods? He might just rebel to spite him! Besides, Apollo doesn't seem interested in improvising. He's had this in his head an awfully long time, possibly even from their first week as Partners. Even then, he injected mind-numbing psyches on Josh."
Neku bristl;ed "He...what?! On his partner?! The hell!"
"He didn't care, Phones. All he knew was that due to the rules, J had no choice but to stay by his side. So he took advantage and used him for a test subject to see if psyches worked on fellow Players. The results pleased him. He decided to use that knowledge to torment his Partner, someone he'd wanted to manhandle since they were kids."
"That sick bastard!"
Sanae nodded, helping Neku patch up a nasty wound on Joshua's leg.
"He is indeed. Luckily, he's also smart enough to not challenge those with higher power than himself. He'll leave us be for the next few weeks, and we clearly have work to do. So...let's get started."
Neku set Joshua on the couch and went to go into the kitchen to prepair a meal. He got five steps over before collapsing. Rhyme gasped and rushed to his side, turning him on his back and putting her hand over her mouth.
"Mister H...Neku's bleeding out his mouth!"
"Not suprising." Sanae said calmly, wiping the liquid with a towel. "Phones got several doses of psyche as well. Most of them flipped his insides around. An RG body can only take so much abuse before showing signs. Don't worry though, he'll be ok. A little internal bleeding is going on, but he'll heal."
"How can you be sure?" Rhyme asked, wiping more red drool off her friend's mouth
"Because Apollo also injected a long lasting self-heal. It'll keep Phones healthy enough to continue taking care of Josh."
"But even so...why bother? You can do that just as easily."
"He doesn't want Phones dead, Little Skulls. He won't let him die, no matter how close he gets to release, no matter how sickly his body gets. If he were to let his enemy pass on, that would taint his victory."
The young Bito was seriously reconsidering her philosophy…