"I swear to you, Mister H, I had very little to do with Yoshi's episode! All I did was accidently trigger it, and I don't even know how!"

Haineko wrung her hands and paced in agitation, pacing back and forth through the nook area of the kitchen.

Sanae folded his arms "Why would you even talk about the trial in the first place? You told me it horrified you, so why dwell on it? The truth now, you know I can force it out of you if I have to, Haineko." He leveled very serious, very hard eyes at the younger Angel until she broke eye contact with him.

She sighed heavily, slumping her shoulders "Ok, ok. I...I was angry with him. I didn't bring it up in jest...I brought it up to hurt him. Only a little!"

The barista shook his head, but gestured for her to continue "Why?"

The girl clenched her fists "Why?!" she ground out "You honestly don't know? I know what Apollo did to him, Hanekoma. But that didn't give him the right...to stop searching for me! He shoved me to the back of his mind...he even replaced me!" Her hands shook, tears gathered in the corner of her eyes.

"I have nothing against Rhyme Bito. I meant what I said to Yoshi. But do you know how much it hurt when that spark ignighted for a mortal, instead of where it should have spiked for?! I was angry. I lashed out...and fulfilled another small task. One I originally planned not to complete."

Sanae's eyes narrowed and became slits "You initiated the Memory Hell?! How was that accidental! You can't trigger that punishment without full knowledge of what you're doing!"

He lashed out, catching her in a backhand in a rare display of aggression. The Producer was livid, utterly disgusted, and very disappointed. But what he was, ultimately, was concerned. Haineko reeled back from the strike, but Sanae's burning eyes held no remorse as she touched the spot where the blow had landed, a welt already forming as the barista's normally calm and soothing voice became a dangerous, sharp growl as he spoke without looking at her fully, instead part of his gaze focused on the twitching boy on the couch.

"This wasn't an execution, Haineko. But you may have just turned it into one."

TWEWYTWEWYTWEWYTWEWY

Crack crack crack

The bullwhips sliced into his thin shirt, tearing away pieces of his flawlkess skin, wrapping his shoulders in their painful tenderils before ripping away again, taking flesh, cloth. And blood with them.

Crack! Crack!

He refused to scream. Not even under the generous helpings of cat-o-nines making a meal out of his chest, biting and ripping and tearing to make their marks on his bkleeding front. He was proud and he was going to keep strong. They were not to hear him become weak!

However...his eyes seemed to think that the absence of sound from his mouth meant it was ok to start leaking. So to his chagrin, They didn't get the satisfaction of hearing him scream...they got to revel in the knowledge that they made him cry.

Snapcrack! Snapcrack! Crack!

How long was this going to go on for? His back was a fillet of blood, pus, and bone. His front looked no better. Even his face sported lacerations and bloody lines. Tiger stripes decorated his shredded legs. But the strikes still came. Was that even pain he was feeling? Or did they just lash his nerves completely, and were now using them to inflict even more lashes? He couldn't tell where up was anymore...but the room was growing dark.

Perhaps erasure would actually come to him this time...

Neku gasped for air as he shot upright in his bed again. "The hell was that this time?"

He slowly made his way downstairs, and checked on his patient. His eyues widened in horror and his voice stuck in his throat as he squeaked out a weak "Shit!" and went and got bandages from a closet.

Joshua was laying in a pool of his own blood on the ground, his shirt was ripped to shreds for some odd reason, and he had three large gashes, one running down his back, and two across his ribs, that were leaking profusely. Tear streaks lined his face, and blood trickled out of his mouth, wich was locked tightly with clenched jaws.

The Proxy worked franticly to bandage the wounds that were clearly whip markings, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Oh, Josh...I wish I knew what the hell's happening to you." He murmured as he worked "And to me. I never opened our bond last night in bed. Is it just because I'm your Partner? Gosh...I used to dread the day our minds linked like this...didn't want you anywhere near my head. How do you like it, ass?" he chuckled nervously, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

As the proxy tended the Compoiser, the Producer looked on sadly, hand covering his face before sliding down to his jaw. He was about to step out and say something, but thought better of it, letting the teen have his time with his friend.

"Enjoy the moment while it lasts, Phones...because it may be all you got left."