Sanctuary

I'll tell ya, kids are amazing.

When they dream, they dream big.

Every time they try, they go higher and higher.

The sky is their limit.

But when they fall, they fall hard.

Believe me.

Chapter Sixteen - Potential

The next week went on very much like their first training session together. If they had time, they would go to Joshua's house after their school club to do some extra training. Even when they were still at school, since no one else went up to the rooftop, they trained there.

Rhyme's control went up in leaps and bounds under Joshua's direction. The sand was now truly an extension of herself – a whirling black tornado that the Spirits would be foolish not to be afraid of.

Joshua even accepted Rhyme's challenge to fight against him. Neku didn't think Joshua was one to go easy on anyone, so when Joshua almost lost, Neku didn't fail to rub it in his face.

"I didn't lose, Neku. I almost did."

"Yeah but you can't say that fight was a breeze for you."

"How about you have a go against me, dear Neku?"

"Sure. Just don't cry when you really lose."

Rhyme wasn't the only one that improved; Neku and Shiki had been going under the same vigorous training. The amount of energy Neku needed to call out Shiki was decreasing and as a result of this, he didn't become as tired after a session. He didn't need to say things out loud as much as the training progressed. Shiki seemed to know what he wanted to say before he actually said it. She wasn't able to completely read his thoughts but she said that she had enough of an 'idea' of what he was thinking to make a decision on what to do.

Beat was the only one who wasn't doing any spiritual training but he had gotten past being disheartened over it. Instead he worked twice at hard during soccer practice, practiced new tricks on his skateboard and did a lot more other physical training. Neku asked Joshua if this would be helpful, if Beat couldn't see the Spirits.

"Probably." At least he didn't say 'no'. "Besides, if someone is going through that much effort in hopes of being useful, it's not going to go to waste."

"I thought you said you were going to work something out for him," said Neku.

"I am. But if we're going on the last bits of information that Other Joshua is still gathering, I think I might not need to." He had a conniving look about him, and Neku didn't want to question him further on the subject.

He'd just have to trust him.

xxxxx

"I can't believe it's already Thursday!"

Neku had to agree with Shiki. "That's over a week of hard training for us. All of this on top of soccer, as well."

"No training tomorrow!" She declared, stretching her arms out. "Even if Joshua insists, we're having a break!"

She was 'sitting' on his couch again, intently looking at Nimew and looking like she really wanted to pet him. Neku thought that even if she could touch Nimew, the cat wouldn't want to be petted. It didn't like Neku trying to give it a bath, let alone pet it. Admittedly, he hadn't ever tried to pet it. Although his terms with Nimew were getting a tad bit better, the cat didn't see Neku as its owner; he was most likely more of a 'human who lived where it did'. He bet Nimew thought of his flat as its home.

Nimew wasn't looking at Shiki and was pawing at the kitchen cupboard, meowing loudly.

"Aww, Nimew's hungry!"

"That makes the two of us." Having gotten into the routine of it, Neku pulled open the cupboard, withdrawing the cat food and shaking some of it into the bowl that he had bought for Nimew.

The cat glared at Neku as if to say, 'Is that it?'

Neku returned the glare evenly. "That's all you're getting tonight. Anymore and you'll become fat. You're lazy enough as it is."

The obligatory, irritated hiss was emitted by Nimew before it began eating its dinner.

Wanting his own dinner, Neku opened up the fridge. His stomach grumbled in protest as his eyes registered that they were out of food. Dammit, with all the extra training they'd been doing, he hadn't even had time to buy food.

He stared at the fridge for a second, willing the food to appear. Since that was obviously not going to work, he shut the fridge and leaned against it, giving Shiki a defeated look.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "I guess, it's a good thing that I can't eat, or you'd have to go out and buy a dinner for two."

Yeah, he was going to need to go down to the convenience shop to buy some instant ramen or something. He should have taken up Joshua's offer of staying at his place for dinner.

"I know," said Shiki. "If I hang up right now, it should take some stress off you, and you'll be less tired when you go out and get your food."

"No, it's fine. You don't have to."

"Or at least, I should stop being in my visible form. Since we're not training, or anything, I don't need to be in it," she reasoned.

"It's really fine, Shiki. Don't worry about it."

"I don't get it. You make it sound as if it's troubling if I'm not visible anymore. It'll be better for your health if I'm not visible." She frowned. "Like I said, you don't need to see me right now, right?"

"…" Right. Right. That was the answer. His head was confused as to why he wouldn't just agree with her but his mouth wouldn't let him do it. He had this ridiculous feeling that he would be lying if he just said 'right', which made absolutely zero sense. I must be more tired than I thought…

The doorbell that rang at that moment saved Neku from having to potentially make an idiot out of himself by trying to explain.

He unlocked the door with a click and opened it.

"Heya Neku! Want to have some dinner? My treat."

"Uncle H!"

xxxxx

Neku and his uncle were back in the elevator to the CAT studio. For no other reason than the fact that Hanekoma had forgotten his wallet.

"Look at me! Offerin' to have dinner with you and then forgetting my wallet. Maybe I'm getting old."

"You're not old," Neku said instantly.

Hanekoma chuckled. "I'm a lot older than you. Oh, but how old do you think I am?"

"Late thirties?" he guessed.

"Bingo!" said Hanekoma, even making a 'ding' sound. He paused mid-step and turned his eyes to the recording booth. "Looks like someone's still here."

That was strange. After coming to the studio became a regularity, Neku would say that by this time most, if not all, of the workers would have gone home. Certainly, he hadn't seen anyone in the recording studio at this time.

Following Hanekoma's lead, they walked past the doors separating the main office from the recording studio. The lights were on and there was a girl around Neku's age, singing in the room behind the glass panel.

"Let's have a listen," said Hanekoma, pressing one of the many buttons on the control panel. Instantly, sound came through the outside speakers.

"I'll be waiting…I am waiting for you…"

"Who is she?" Neku asked his uncle. He didn't recognise her voice at all, and he listened to a lot of music. Her face wasn't a familiar one either, so she couldn't be a famous singer yet.

"Ah. That's our new prospect. She hasn't made her debut single yet, but as you can see, she's working on it."

Neku nodded, watching her curiously. She seemed so intent on what she was doing. Her eyes were closed the whole time and she was in deep focus. What he noticed was that she seemed to still be wearing her school uniform. If his memory served him right, that was Shibuya High's uniform – a white shirt with a red ribbon and a red plaid skirt to match. Did she come here straight from school?

She stopped singing when a strand of her long, blond hair fell in front of her face, and she brushed it away, opening her amber eyes.

She covered her mouth, finally seeming to realize she had company.

Hanekoma pressed another button on the panel and spoke into the microphone. "Don't mind us. We're just about to leave. Just don't stay here too late, okay?"

The girl uncovered her mouth, amber eyes shining in relief, and she nodded. Hanekoma switched off both of the buttons, though it was evident that she continued on singing.

Heading back to Hanekoma's office, the man said, "So whaddya think?"

"Well, I think she's got potential," Neku answered. "Her voice sounds pretty unique. I don't know how to say it, but it's got this kind of…optimistic quantity."

"You put it quite nicely there," Hanekoma agreed. "I do think that she'll turn out to be a big catch for CAT. The optimism of hers makes me optimistic for her career. Ya see, she came here about a week ago. Kind of wandered in like she was lost. Then she said she wanted to sing for us. Wouldn't take no for an answer."

"A week ago? First time I've heard of it."

"Yeah, well I couldn't reach your phone, for some reason. The line always seems to be busy. That's why I picked you up tonight."

Oh, right. That must be because he was on the line with Shiki constantly for the whole week. They didn't really hang up after training these days.

"Anyway, we let her sing for us. Honestly, she's not the best that we've ever had but when we asked why she wanted to be a singer, she looked us straight in our faces and said, 'It's all I've ever dreamed of.' I just thought, 'ah! This is youth!'"

"Now you do sound old," said Neku, chuckling.

Mr. Hanekoma grinned, teeth shining. "Very funny."

At last, he found his wallet and they left the building again, walking past the singing girl.

"Say Neku, that girl's been wanting to use a stage name, and I can't really think of anything. Got any ideas? I was thinking of something hip."

On the spot? Uhh…Neku looked around staring at the 104 building, though it was just clothes. Clothes…Shiki always talks about clothing styles…something hip…Hip Snake…hip…oh, there's that word…

"'Hype'?" said Neku, finally. "One of my friends is really good at English and she was telling us about the word." Beat had totally messed up his English homework the other day, and Rhyme, while helping him correct his work, tried to comfort him by pointing out that the word 'hype' did exist.

"I think it's spelt nearly the same as 'hip'. Not sure what it means, though." Wait, is it meant to sound like hip? Maybe my spelling's wrong…He needed to revise his English a bit more. Ugh, I've a test next week and I haven't studied at all…It's all because of my training…

"Hype!" repeated Hanekoma. "I like it! Everyone loves English – great idea, Neku! Hopefully it has a cool meaning. I'll look it up, but thanks."

Neku smiled, although he was a bit embarrassed about all the praise. "No problem."

"Maybe you should join the CAT business when you grow up. I need a successor after all." Hanekoma ruffled the top of Neku's hair. "Oh, but you probably already have your own dreams."

"I don't." At least, not anymore.

"That so? Well, it's a good thing to have, you know. Having a target keeps you on your feet. Then you can live your life to the fullest."

"Yeah."

He might not have a 'dream', but he did have a target that certainly kept him alert.

Those Spirits are going down…

Xxxxx

Night had completely fallen by the time Neku and Hanekoma had finished eating dinner. His uncle dropped him off just in front the entrance of Neku's apartment block, and departed with a cheerful wave. Neku waved back, although he wasn't sure if Hanekoma saw it.

Never mind, I'll see him tomorrow. Neku was about to go in when he caught something in the corner of his eye. It was dark and only the dim, overhead lights were shining through the area's car park but he thought he spotted Nimew. Weird. It's usually already back home by this time.

Since he was in a good mood, Neku thought he'd actually try and pick Nimew up to take it back into the house, to spare the cat from having to sleep outside.

It was just sitting down, back to Neku on the roof of a car just a bit of a distance away. Neku drew closer, a thought on whether or not to give the cat a jump-scare currently pending in his mind. That flew out the window when he got right up and realised that Nimew wasn't alone.

He could see through the window someone leaning against the car on the other side, black wings pressed against the windows. As if sensing Neku, Nimew meowed and stood on its legs, shifting to the right so that Neku could see the back of someone's head. The person had very pink hair.

He felt his stomach drop. It was her. That Spirit. The one that had affected Joshua and his mother and if he was not mistaken, she was the one who had been there along with 777, BJ and Tenho who she erased.

He took light steps, going right up to the car and crouching down. For some reason, she, unlike Nimew, hadn't sensed his presence yet.

Well, what to do, now? He wasn't going to charge in and demand a fight right away. As much as he was sure that she didn't need to be in this world any longer, he didn't have a full understanding of her capabilities. She seemed to have severed the pacts of her comrade's pretty easily, so she possibly had the ability to sever his Pact with Shiki just as easily. He was confident about the training he had done with Shiki and the rest, but he wasn't sure if it was enough.

"Argh!" she exclaimed suddenly. Neku would have jumped if he wasn't so intent on keeping hidden. "This is sooo boring. Whose idea was it to give me this job?" Talking to yourself? Weird, but don't stop. Maybe she would say something useful."Ugh, this is freakin' dull. Stupid recon. How much do they need to know about that emo kid, anyway?" Emo kid?! It sounded like… they had been spying on him? "I could tell them everything they need without this crap. One – he's probably got some angsty shit going on for him. All teenagers do." Hey! "Two – he uses an insane amount of hair-gel." She's really pissing me off. "Three – he thinks that he's such a smart-ass and that I actually didn't realise that he's -" Neku felt the car shake, "- here!"

Getting onto his feet, Neku leapt back to face the car. The Spirit was standing on top of it, a devious smile on her face. "Ready to play, little boy?"

"…What'cha standin' there and waitin' for?..." The press of the button was automatic for Neku. As a result of his training, he was able to almost instantly get Shiki out in her visible form. She appeared, already in a defensive stance, Mr. Mew bouncing on the pads of its feet battle-ready.

"Oooh! Looks like the kiddies have gotten stronger, haven't they?"

Neku grit his teeth. Was it a good thing or a bad thing that she could tell, just by looking at them? Or is that just how long she's been spying on us? He wanted to kick himself for not having noticed her before.

"Hey! I know! If I sever your Pact now, I won't have to do anymore recon." She smirked. "It's not like the Boss can complain once we've got that girl on our side." She eyed Shiki as if she was a toy, all wrapped up and ready to be torn open.

"I'll go on your side when hell freezes over," said Shiki, meeting the Spirit's eyes evenly.

The Spirit extended her wings wider. "Enough talk, let's get on with this. Make this fun for me, 'kay?" With an almost maniacal giggle, she accelerated straight for Neku, palms already glowing a bright red.

Knowing that to sever the Pact, she would go for him first, Neku was prepared to dodge her, sliding to his left.

Shiki, in turn, directed Mr. Mew straight towards the Spirit's face, claws out and glowing purple. The Spirit saw this coming, and flew upwards to avoid it.

"Oh no you don't!" Sending Mr. Mew up too, the plush latched itself to the Spirit's boots.

"Pest!" The Spirit attempted to shake her legs in order to get the cat off, however Shiki had other things in mind. Mr. Mew's paw right paw grew larger, and it bashed into the Spirit's back, making her scream in protest.

The Spirit dove down quickly, surprising both Neku and Shiki. Why -? She pulled back up abruptly, the momentum causing Mr. Mew to lose its grip on her, skidding down as it landed.

Okay. This Spirit doesn't waste any moves. She's fast and she seems like the rash type, but she's not stupid. The best way forward is to try and trick her…

Neku had a plan.

"Shiki! Use your surroundings!" That was a risky shout, because the Spirit had brought her attention back to Neku, looking like she remembered the easier way to defeat them, and headed for Neku once again.

No, I can use this…Neku ran as fast as his feet could carry him, zipping around and behind cars.

The Spirit simply laughed. "You think you can outrun me? I can catch you without breaking a sweat!" As if to prove her point, the Spirit retracted her wings, and strolled leisurely amongst the cars, tapping the windows mockingly along the way.

Having made enough twist and turns, Neku bent down behind one car, sure that the Spirit couldn't see him from here. "Oh, are we playing hide and seek? Come out, come out wherever you are!"

She continued her incessant tapping, even scratching her nails against the car every now and then, creating a painful ringing noise in his ears.

Was that meant to intimidate him? That wasn't going to work on him. He wasn't scared.

"Boo!" What the-? She was here already? That was faster than he anticipated. She stood just to the side of him, arms crossed and looking at him almost as if she was pitying him. "There's a reason there's the word 'hide' in 'hide and seek'. You need some practice."

She was too fast! Is it possible that - ? Wait!

"Actually, I think you're playing the wrong game." Quick as lightning, Mr. Mew slipped out from under the car Neku was leaning against, and gave a massive slash at the Spirit, and then going under another car. Neku grinned as the Spirit let out a yell; Shiki had understood his plan. "Tag. You're it."

Running back over to Shiki, who had been hiding herself as well, Neku gave her a thumbs up. Unfolding her wings again, the Spirit shrieked furiously. "Why you little-!"

She made to attack Neku again, but Mr. Mew jumped up and slashed her again.

"That wretched thing!" She shouted, whirling around, eyes darting to all the cars that Mr. Mew could possibly being hiding it.

Shiki's hand was held out straight, eyes focused and giving no clue as to where Mr. Mew was. The plush cat emerged from below another car, landing another blow at the Spirit. The Spirit seemed to grow more and more frustrated as Mr. Mew repeatedly alternated between hiding and attacking. Even when she looked like she was about to try attacking Neku, the cat was too fast and hit her, pushing her back before she could do anything.

We're winning. The training paid off. He had no doubt that they were winning.

With a last effort, Mr. Mew came from above suddenly, catching the Spirit off-guard. The finishing blow drew out an agonised screech from the Spirit, as she crashed into the ground.

Neku held his breath, waiting for the Spirit to get up. After a few moments, it became obvious that the Spirit had truly been defeated.

Motioning to Shiki, they both took cautious steps towards the fallen Spirit, looking down at her warily.

"Hey, you," said Neku. "Tell us the name of your Boss. We might just let you keep your Pact if you do." For now, anyway. The final plan was to get rid of the whole group of Spirits, after all.

The Spirit gave Neku a weak but gleeful laugh. "Can you really do it? Sever our Pacts?"

"Of course," he said. "Like you found out, we've become stronger."

"Maybe physically, but are you ready to erase someone's existence?"

Erase someone's existence?

"What is it? Can't say anything?" The Spirit giggled. "We were all once people too. People with their own lives, myself included; I had a family and I had friends too. Right now, though, I just have my name. Uzuki Yashiro, if you were wondering. If you think you can live with yourself, go ahead and sever my Pact."

She's baiting me. He knew she was, of course she was. But…

"But if you think about it, I wasn't planning on erasing that girl's resistance." Uzuki's eyes went to Shiki's giving her the same accusing look. "I was just trying to change the anchor of her existence, that's all."

"Don't listen to her, Neku," muttered Shiki quietly. No…but I can't just make someone completely disappear like that. Even for a good cause, that's just…I would be as bad as…

"Well, what are you waiting for? Do your worst."

"Do your worst."

"It's not me." Neku suddenly gasped, as 'his' words echoed in his mind; he was starting to feel constricted. "What the hell are you saying? As if I'm the bad guy here."

Uzuki laughed. "But aren't you?"

"Scary."

"No," he said loudly. "You're wrong. You're wrong. Don't make it look as if it's me who's…I'm not…"

"Not what? A monster?" She giggled again.

"That monster, who would have thought?"

"You're the one who's been…you…" She's at fault. She's at fault. She's at fault. Think about what she's done.

"You don't have to be a monster to do it, you know. Although looking people in the eye will be a bit harder to do. It's fine, really. Getting rid of someone's existence is a ridiculous concept for normal people. Even if you tell someone, they're not likely to believe it."

"I don't want to believe it…"

"Shut up!" Neku shut his eyes and covered his ears. No. No. No.

"Teenagers. So easily to manipulate." Her voice cut across him and his eyes widened as suddenly, she was up again, though now having taken a few steps back. "I admit, you might have won this one this battle but the war is still ours. We've got eyes and ears everywhere, and we'll catch you soon enough. Somewhere you least expect it. Can't wait to see a real attempt of yours to sever a Pact. I'm looking forward to it!"

With another laugh, she flew away, leaving Neku out of breath, and Shiki shouting for her to come back.

"Neku? What was that? What happened to you?"

"I don't know. I just…freaked." Clear your head.

"Listen here," said Shiki sharply. "That Spirit has no right to taunt you. She severed the Pacts the other Spirits in her group. It wasn't even of an enemy. No matter how you look at it, her case is worst."

"But she's right. Someone's existence is…"

"Look. She was just trying to distract you. Even if we were to listen to what she said, wouldn't I be the one who's hesitating? I'm the one who actually has to sever the Pacts. We work as a team, but ultimately I'm the one who'll be responsible for it. And hey, you never know, maybe there's a place to go after you're severed. Like heaven or something. Uh well… " Shiki stumbled on her last words but her eyes were resolute. "No matter what any of them says, you're not wrong. I believe what we're doing is right, and you should too. Just believe in yourself, and that should be good enough for everyone."

Neku took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

"Sorry. I don't know what got into me back there…" He shook his head, shaking away his old memories as well. He dusted off some dirt from his shorts. "I'm fine now. Let's go home."

He headed back towards his flat, eyes down.

"Neku…are you really…?"

He stopped, turning back to Shiki and looking at her. He could, of course, not only see, but feel her concern for him. Always worrying…

He gave her a half-smile.

"I'll be fine. I promise."

A/N: Tadaa! This was a fun chapter to write – especially the battle scene. And hope you liked Hype-chan's cameo appearance! I gave Neku some things to think about, but it's something for everyone too. Would it really be right to erase someone's existence even if they cause misery? I blame that on the everyday morning assemblies I have at school where we like to question everything.

Anyway. Guess what? Yep, it's self-plugging time! (Again!?). I've got a new TWEWY fanfic up called 'Damned if I Don't'. It's a Post-Game fanfic that stars Rhyme and Joshua with the plot surrounding the Higher Plane and Composers from other places. So if you're interested, check it out and let me know what you think :D (Okay, fine, I do have a little shame for self-plugging, but there ya go.)

Thanks for the faves and follows: ToaLewa'sSidekick, PhantomMouse1115

Thanks for the wonderful reviews: ElementLegend, CirciFox81314, B.A.G-GOMEZ, Lemon Ponzu, Xerzo LotCN, Faliara, Chronic Guardian, RagnartheSemiGreen, I'll Break Your Heart, Omega Zekrom, Prussianess

Jt: It was a sort of 'welcome back' chapter, wasn't it? Glad you enjoyed it!

Primo: A fan? That's awesome! And haha, Neku was being a bit dense back there and he didn't really get Joshua's implication. The training tired out his brain, I'm afraid.

Content Notes:

Hype - The correction of Beat's homework was of his translations and he wrote down 'hype' instead of 'hip'. Hopefully it's reasonable to say that Neku could get confused about the pronunciation, since 'i' can also be pronounced in the same way you do when saying 'hype'. E.g. The word 'high', and the same goes with 'y'.

Thanks to everyone else who read the chapter! See you next time!

Chapter Seventeen - Unexpected

Hah! Did I shake you up, back there?

"It's natural to have doubts."

Serves you right – no one beats me down like that.

"Before you say anything, could I just speak?"

…wait, don't tell me you're not going to give up?

"Make him stop, Phones!"

Pfft. Fine by me, I'll play with you just a little longer.