"I was about to step in, you know."

Neku sighed and spread out on top of his bed

"I wouldn't blame you if you did, Mister H."

Sanae sat on the edge of the bed "You never pushed this hard, Phones. Something bugging you? The pressure of what you wagered getting to you?"

The teen shook his head

"No. It's just...I guess...I'm a little scared. Not of what could happen to me if we lose...but I'm...I;m scared for Josh. He's always...so cocky and...and frustratingly overconfident. Sure of himself...he'll do anything to get what he wants and...the look on his face when he listens to this old district...the joy he feels just hearing it sing...the life it puts in him...the spark of mischief when he knows he's pissed me off..."

He choked on emotion he never thought he'd feel for his ex-murderer/tormentor.

"I can't...imagine seeing him...just stripped of all that. It would destroy him. I got scared. I pushed him because...because I panicked."

His voice croaked as he sat up, dangling his feet off the bed

"Mister H...if we lose I will never forgive myself."

"You won't lose, Phones." Sanae encouraged, putting a hand on his shoulder

"When you aren't panicking, you make a pretty good coach"

Neku smiled "Thanks...but...can I confide something in you? Our own little wager...for Josh's sake."

Sanae narrowed his eyes "Depends on what it is Phones. Josh's like a son to me you know."

The proxy sighed "I know. Which is why...this might not be something you'll agree to and I understand if it isn't. It's just...I saw what I almost did to him today and...well..."

"Deep breath Phones. Let it out slowly and get this question off your chest."

"To be honest, mister H...I'd rather kill him than let him live the rest of eternity as an empty shell of what he was...with dead eyes and a broken spirit that'll never get the chance to heal. If we lose...I'll erase him."

Hanekoma was eerily silent. He looked at this boy, this boy who'd been shot, put through three weeks of the Reaper's Game, then shot again and was brought back to the RG...all by Yoshiya's hand. This same teenager had at first volunteered to be at the mercy of a madman alongside his killer/tormentor...and was now proposing to do the ultimate mercy killing because he couldn't stand to see someone who so blatently and callously wronged him, suffer a fate worse than death.

"I was thinking the same thing." He said softly. "To be honest, Phones...that was my plan too. I've seen Josh's eyes go as blank as the sky, and I swore to myself I'd never let them get that way again. Besides, proud spirit like his...Josh'd rather be erased than end up like that anyway."

"So we're agreed then" Neku said solemnly "If we lose...one of us'll erase him."

Sanae took a deep breath.

"Agreed. But Phones?"

"Hmmm?"

"You aren't going to lose."

TWEWYTWEWYTWEWY

"They're going to kill you."

Joshua's eyes snapped open, and he shot his best nonchalant, devil-may-care glaer at the window.

"Ah, so you've actually come to face me in person instead of through Neku, have you? How considerate."

Apollo chuckled condecendingly

"Don't try to hide your fear, Yoshiya. You've never been able to bluff your way with me."

Joshua threw back his head with a mocking cackle

"Fear? Oh don't flatter yourself. I haven't been afraid of you since...oh wait...never! Face it, without your psychs that completely immobilize me, you are powerless."

"So are you, right now. You better thank Sanae for creating that damn rune. I mean, before he erases you."

Joshua cocked his head "yes, you mentioned that. I'm curious what you have to gain from making me unbelievably inquisitive."

"I just thought you should know that they'd rather erase you than let you be mine, as agreed. You taught your proxy well how to renegotiate a bargain. It certainly served your other partners well, seeing as how you renegotiated their lives for your own."

Joshua refused to take such obvious bait, and instead smirked

"Neku and Sanae simply understand me. They know I'd rather be erased than spend the rest of eternity chained to your every whim. This information, though very juicy, is expected. Again you have no power."

Apollo lost his patience. Whatever the Proxy had done, he had been successful in making Yoshiya able to retain control over his temper and his situation. This would not stand.

"You do realize what breaking a deal with one of Us entails...do you not? Once you're gone, Yoshiya...who will protect Sakuraba from taking your place?"

"Sanae is more than capable—"

"Sanae Hanekoma will have to report immediately to the Council after your erasure, Composer."

Joshua simply waved a hand dismissively,

"I refuse to acknowledge your current strategy, because it has oh so many holes. Sanae only has to report to the council if I have no successor chosen. That, my preying Apollo...is not the case."

"Even if it was" Neku's voice cut through the air like a knife "It's a moot point. We're going to beat you. Josh isn't going anywhere."

"Trying to freak out the enemy, Apollo? Isn't that a bit beneath you?" Sanae asked, coming down the stairs slowly, a gleam in his eyes that warned of a brewing storm.

"Plotting to kill the Composer in secret, Hanekoma? Haven't you learned your lesson?" Apollo bit back venomously "Oh wait...you never did get punished for that did you?"

Sanae gave a low growl, and was only stopped from going out and starting a brawl with the other Higher Being by Joshua's sharp bark

"Sanae! Enough! He's not even worth one tenth of your effort."

The Producer calmed himself and nodded "Yeah, J. Ok."

Apollo suddenly sneered at all three of them

"You all are fools. Sakuraba, you cannot go back on our deal. Yoshiya will be mine. You will surrender him to me and yourself as well in three weeks. Or you will face the wrath of the Council"

"You'll take him over my dead—"

"Neku, please do not finish that sentence. It's bad luck" Joshua said waving a hand "Like you said, it's a moot point anyway. No use even considering...that. Neku, shut him out. Then, if you would, occupy yourself for a minute. I need to talk with my Producer."

Neku happily shut the window, but unhappily went up to his room, promising that he'd be down in an instant if anything went amiss.