"You're mine, Kiryu."
He tossed and he turned, a small whimper escaping his lips now and again. He clawed at the air, at the couch...at his throat.
"AAAALL Mine!"
"J?"
He felt something grip his shoulder. He swiped at it, he snarled and snapped and hissed venomously.
"Woah! Josh hey, easy there!"
That voice...that voice was safe and kind and warm and smelled like burnt coffee beans. He settled and relaxed, and sank back into the bliussfulness of sleep...
Only to torque and writhe and scream as things inside him crackled and popped and pain shot through his entire body, a body that no longer moved by his volition but seemed destined to twist and bend on its own power. He was helpless to stop it. This was death...this was true death and he was stuck in its endless loop.
"Mister H! DO something!"
"I'm trying kid, but he's stuck in a Higher Memory Loop. He only has one of these every five years..Last one was about a beating he received by his uncle...tried to 'beat the crazy out of him' when he was 6...looks like recent events triggered this one."
Joshua's body tensed and thrashed, Neku trying to pin him down so he wouldn't fall off the couch. For being sick, weak, and at half power, the Composer was still remarkably strong.
"It's like fighting a grizzly! Come on Josh...we're trying to help you!" the Proxy grunted, "Please...you prick...stop trying to fight on your own! Trust your partner!"
Trust your partner!
His Partner...his Proxy...
"Neku!"
"I'm right here, Josh...I'm right here. You're on my couch, you're safe. You're safe!"
Safe...he was safe...his partner said he was safe.
Neku said he was safe...Neku trusted him.
So he would trust Neku.
Joshua finally settled down, his body exhausted and again feverish as he once again got comfortable. He reached desperately for someone to hold onto...usually Sanae would be beside him, comforting him after an episode.
But this time his hand clamped firmly to Neku's wrist.
The Proxy's eyes widened, and he clasped his hand to the shaking, pale one. "It's ok...I'm right here. You're safe, Josh."
"I will break you, Yoshiya. And I will enjoy it."
There was no reaction to the vision this time. Between his Surrogate father murmuring nonchalauntly, and his proxy once again having his back, Joshua barely heard a thing.
TWEWYTWEWYTWEWY
The gavel slammed down, the court was adjurned. The sentence had been carried out. They were satisfied.
Well, almost all of Them.
"Grand Councilman, surely you won't let him escape that easily!"
The glowing head of the Higher Plane looked at the slightly lesser being curiously.
"He has suffered the rack, the flames, the lash, physical beatings, been banished to the RG for a time, and stripped of his True Form and half his powers as Composer on behalf of Sanae Hanekoma's pardening. On top of that, his RG body is wracked with sickness. What more, Apollo Sarahara, do you think he deserves? I would hardly call Our punishment lenient."
"You think he has learned from this?"
"You think he has not?"
"I know Yoshiya Kiryu, your Honor. I grew up with him. I was his Game Partner. He may have suffered, but he has learned nothing. He is arrogant."
"He is young, Apollo. Especially by Our reckoning. Arrogance is normal in youth."
"He's been in power for more than SEVEN DECADES! That's more than enough to grow his soul. Yet he still acts like he's always acted. High-strung and spirited, cocky and arrogant. Defiant!"
The Higher Being looked thoughtful
"And your solution is what, Apollo? We cannot risk erasing him. Shibuya has chosen him, as he stated."
Apollo licked his lips
"What do you do with a wild, untamed beast when it continues to ignore your wishes? You know you cannot simply put it down, for its much too valuable. So you do the next best thing."
A feral smile reached his hungry eyes
"You break its spirit. You tame it"
The councilman on the left of the courtroom laughed uproariously
"A spirit such as Yoshiya's is impossible to crush! You saw how defiantly he stared fear in the face when he endured our many punishments! A lesser heart would have given in to dispare...but he smirked in denial!"
Apollo smiled wickedly "Any spirit can be broken. It just takes patience and the right approach."
He turned once again to the Head Councilman
"Give me time, your Honor. I guarantee after I'm done with him, Yoshiya Kiryu will never defy Us again."
The Head Councilman looked hard at the bowing being.
"Very well. I will allow you to attempt to cull Yoshiya's rampant tenacity. But be warned, any backlash that hits Shibuya will fall squarely on your shoulders. As high-strung and wild as he is, Yoshiya is STILL the district's Composer. His spirit is her spirit. When you crush him, keep that in mind."
"I will. Thank you, your honor. You will not be disappointed."
As he disappeared from the courtroom, the Head sighed in resignation
"Try not to enjoy yourself too much, Apollo. I will not let his accidental erasure pass."
As if he would give that spoiled, undeserving brat the courtesy of a peaceful erasure! No, the blond man smirked, no, he wouldn't let him just disappear so easily. Breaking the high-strung Kiryu would take time, and he didn't even have him yet. Oh, he knew where he was...but thanks to the meddling Producer, he couldn't reach him.
And he wasn't about to alert the Proxy either.
That boy bewildered Apollo. Neku Sakuraba had been the main victim of Yoshiya's cruelty. He'd been strung along against his will in the abomination that was the Long Game, and to reward him, the arrogant Composer had shot him. Again.
And despite all of that, the boy had been filled with rage when he'd witnbessed Apollo's treatment of his tormentor that night in Sanae's hovel.
Rage that had sparked instant, rash, yet surprisingly violent action.
Neku Sakuraba had proven his stance on the Composer pretty clearly that night, and again in the Concert Hall, when he'd unknowingly fought Apollo off Yoshiya yet again with his outrageously powerful Music.
Such an entity would have to be distanced from Kiryu before any real progress could be made. He didn't want to drag that living powerhouse into a battle if he didn't have to, but he couldn't have the boy acting as a guardian either.
But once the Proxy was out of the way...
The man allowed a feral, savage grin to light his face.
"Then you're all mine Kiryu. Once I'm done, not even Hanekoma will be able to bring your fight back!"