"He's getting worse."

Those foreboding words snapped Neku out of his thoughts. Confused, the Proxy cocked his head

"How do you figure? He's actually been more than healthy these past two days. Ever since that nightmare thing, he's been fighting extra hard. His fever hasn't spiked once, and he even managed to keep that porrage from Tartarus you keep forcefeeding him down."

Sanae snorted "That stuff is specially made, phones. He just hates the texture. Anyway, he's gotten way worse. It's like something is draining him. His fevers gone, but something else came in, began ravaging his system. Don't you notice he sleeps more now than he did when he was feverish?"

"Well yeah but, his body's been racked. He needs that sleep. Besides, his cough's all but gone, and his apetite's coming back. I just don't get what you're worried about."

Hanekoma lay his hand on Joshua's heaving chest. "He's shaking. He's sweating up a storm and its not hot in here, yet he has no fever. He sleeps for hours on end...he's getting worse, trust me."

"What are we doing wrong?"

"I don't think we can do any more right, Phones. Josh is battling what They did to him. I know it won't cause his erasure, but I don't know what it will cause. All I know is, until he can walk at least a block, we can't move him to WildKat."

"We aren't moving him to WildKat."

Sanae started at the sharp declaration.

"That was the plan, Phones."

"Not any more. That's the first place asshole will look for him, and I refuse to have a repeat of the last time Josh stepped foot in that room with him."

"But Phones—"

"No, Mister H!" Neku's voice trembled "Just...just no. He was the most powerful being in Shibuya and that...that damn monster made him dance like a marionette! Now he's sick, weak, and at half power. I'm not taking any chances."

"He can't stay here, kid. The rune I set only prevents the Higher Plane from detecting him and teleporting their operatives inside the house. It does nothing against their lower operatives already here in Shibuya. Apollo will find him eventually."

"Then" the words were ground out through clenched teeth "Make another one that shields the house!"

"I'd have to modify a current rune in order to do that, and I'm not even sure it's possible."

"You're CAT. Figure it out."

Hanekoma had to snigger inwardly at that. This kid...

"Well, far be it from me to disappoint such a loyal fan." He said, taking out his sketchbook and a pen set.

Neku cracked a small smile for a brief second before turning his attention back to Joshua.

"I just...I mean...he shot me. Twice. He used me, teased me...lied to me. Put me through three weeks of hell...and yet..." he paused "I can't stand to let him suffer. Not like that. I meant what I said. Nothing he's done, none of it...warrents the kind of torture he was put through that night. Nothing!"

"You've got a good heart, Phones. I'm betting Skulls wouldn't let him off that easy if he were in your shoes. He'd probably ask Apollo for the psych and join in."

Neku snickered

"Naw. Beat wouldn't waste a psych on Josh. He'd use his bare hands."

The two laughed softly, enjoying the ease in tensions.

Neku looked at the body on the couch and frowned. Sweating? Shaking? just wanting to sleep off the day instead of face it head on?

"Mister H...call me crazy but...I think Josh is...scared."

Sanae dropped his pen with a snort "Yoshiya Kiryu has no concept of fear, Phones. Even before he was Composer, he didn't jump at anything. Heck, he claims that when he was born there was a Noise right in his face. He smiled and tried to grab it. Haunted houses were places he could sleep without being harassed. Horror films bored him literally to tears, and his first Game Master encounter was a giant Noise scorpion. He's also stared right in the faces of beings who could incinerate him with a glance, and sassed each and every one of them. Trust me Phones, our young Composer there does not have a word in his vocabulary that depicts fear. Including the word fear."

Neku shook his head "But all the signs are there! The cold sweat, the shivering even though there's no fever, no cold environment...the wanting to curl up and shut the day out? I'm telling you, something is freaking him out."

"He's ill, that's all. Some symptoms might be strange to you, Phones, but you have to remember, Josh may look human, but he's nowhere near that...even as handicapped as he is."

Neku narrowed his eyes "I thought his 'nowhere-near-human'ness was stripped from him."

Sanae had no answer for that. Nothing but a growing ache in his stomach, a sick feeling in his gut.

If something had actually frightened Yoshiya Kiryu...then Shibuya was all kinds of screwed over. If that something was a someone, then Sanae Hanekoma was about to go on the warpath.