This could not happen.

He wouldn't let it!

The Proxy was doing his very hardest to rid Yoshiya of his most exploitable weakness!

That boy had to be dealt with and quickly, or his mission would get ten times more difficult, if not fail completely. He had to act now, or risk losing his only advantage.

Shifting his form into that of an average gardener, Apollo rapped softly on the door.

Sakuraba came to the peep hole, scowled, and promptly locked even more locks on the door.

"Neku? Who was it?" Yoshiya's crow could be heard through the cracked window.

"Some guy. Lookjs like he got the wrong house. I already have a groundsperson."

"I'm really tired..."

"Oh no you don't! We have barely even started!"

Apollo snarled. This was going to be tougher than he thought. He continued to observe.

A ringtone split the air.

"It's Kariya. Wants to know one winner or two this Game."

"Gimme!"

"No. You know the rules."

"Fine. Tell him I'm feeling generous. Two this week."

"Done. now..."

Apollo raised an eyebrow as the Proxy took out a roll of string and advanced on the confused Composer.

Yoshiya narrowed his eyes "You can't be serious"

Apollo had also worked out what was about to go on, and it was detrimental to his mission.

He had to act!

TWEWYTWEWYTWEWY

"We'll start small." Neku said, securing a loop around Joshua's pale, skinny wrist.

"Now that arm is mine. You can't move it. You move it by yourself, you'll lose mobility completely because I will tie it to your chest for ten minutes."

"Please don't do this to me, Neku." Joshua whined.

"Trust me, Partner." Neku said, lifting the arm above Josh's head, "Just relax...and trust me."

After five tries, Joshua finally relented and allowed his Proxy full control over his limb, letting the appendage hang limply from the—now three—strings Neku manipulated.

It had taken him two and a half hours to get that far.

After ten more minutes,his proxy finally released his arm.

"Good. That's a day."

Josh was confused. A day? But the day wasn't over yet!

"We're done?"

"For today...yeah."

"But...you only worked on one part of me."

"And you successfully surrendered control to that one part. That's all I asked you to do. You did it. So you get to rest. That's the way this works. We're taking things slow. I want to help you, not traumatize you."

Josh was about to answer when there was a very loud knock on the door.

"Must be lunch. I ordered your favorite, you sure earned it."

As Neku went to get the door, Joshua leaned back and closed his eyes, listening to Shibuya sing. He suddenly inhaled sharply and his eyes snapped open.

Neku's hand was on the doorhandle.

"Don't!" The Composer suddenly snapped forcefully "Neku...do not open that door! Get your hand off the handle...NOW!"

Neku removed his hand.

"Back up...really slowly. No sudden movements."

"The hell is it, Josh? I can't see what you see!" the orange teen hissed as he followed the instructions.

"Just get behind the couch, Neku. Back up, do...not...turn your back on the door."

The proxy obeyed. As soon as he was behind the couch, Joshua grit his teeth and snarled, raising his hand in a gesture Neku was all too familiar with...and brought it down with a firm "You wish, Milock."

Neku's new motorcycle came crashing down on top of empty space right next to the couch, hung there for a minute, then fell to the ground.

The Composer let out a breath of tension. "You can come out now."

"The hell was it? A Noise?" Neku asked, slowly coming out from behind the couch.

"That was Milock. A specially engineered Noise viper. He came through the door at his Master's request to bite you."

"Bite...me?! Wait, I thought Asshole was after you!"

"Oh he is. He needs you, my dear, dear Proxy, out of the way. Or in this case...under his control. That's what Milock's poison does to living souls. It's like a mild version of his favorite psych. Think of it as imprinting but on a very, very large dose."

"What could he possibly have wanted me to do? He can't be so stupid he'sd force me to...hurt you. You'd know something was up immediately!"

"No, Neku. All he needs you to do...is open the door and let him in."

"But the rune—"

"The rune becomes useless if They are invited inside wherever the rune is guarding. You've heard the old saying 'Be wary of inviting strangers into your house, you may be giving vampires permission to feed.' Or something along those lines? It basicly is true for Them. They can't come in a runed area unless the owner of said area...that's you, dear, invites them in. No matter how powerful the barrior."

Neku gulped "How did you know?"

Joshua yawned, :"Shibuya told me. There was a rotten cord in her song around your house. His cord was rotten before you were born. I knew instantly who it was."

"Is...is he still out there?"

"He's been there for a while. I don't foresee him leaving any time soon. Relax. As long as you don't let him in, Sanae's rune will hold. He can lurk all he wants, but he can't get in."

Neku was positive Joshua thought he didn't hear the slight tremble in the Composer's voice.

We have a LOT more work to do...