Sanctuary

Lies.

They are funny little things.

Hee hee.

They could be used to protect or to destroy.

Such a simple thing to do, yet it leaves so much of an impact.

I suppose I understand.

I lie a lot too.

No one lies without a reason.

What's yours?

More than anything, the connection from Shiki to him told him that she truly just wanted him to stop hurting over the past. That in itself gave him courage.

He got up stretching his arms out.

He felt oddly refreshed. He would sleep on it and decide what to do tomorrow. That sounded like the best plan of action.

Just as he was about to hang up on Shiki, the doorbell rang.

Who could that be?

He walked over and opened the door.

"…Coco!?"

Chapter Nineteen – Decision

There were three things that ran through Neku at that moment. The first was the thought of how unreal it was that she was standing here – at his door. The second was the urge to slam the door in her face because how dare she? The third was the hurried self-reminder about what he was just trying to accomplish with Shiki only a few moments ago. Getting over his past, meaning that he should not let his emotions reign over his actions too much. He needed to calmly think about the situation.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, with a measured tone. He looked behind her but there didn't seem to be any sign of Kazemaru or the other Reapers. She came alone?

"I wanted to talk to you. It's important." Her voice was low and she was avoiding his eyes.

"Important, huh?" His words were sharp. "What makes you think that I want to talk to you?"

"Nothing…I…" She hesitated for a second, before clenching her fists. "I don't expect anything…but please listen to what I have to say."

Now this was troubling. On the one hand, Neku could not fully push away his feeling of unease he had associated to Coco all this time but on the other…she was never a good actor, not like Kazemaru and she nearly always told the truth. It was probably why she was so easily manipulated by him: she liked to think that he was always truthful with her too. She didn't give off any vibes of having any bad intentions, but still...

"Neku…" At the sound of Shiki's voice, Neku turned to meet her eyes. She had already stopped crying completely by now and rather than looking sad, her eyes were a little more…serious. "I think we should hear her out."

He glanced back at the girl standing outside, head still facing downwards, before looking back at Shiki and nodding. He opened the door wider and stepped to the side. "Fine, come in." He had a feeling that what Coco wanted to discuss wasn't something that could be done out in the open; it must have something to do with Kazemaru and the challenge tomorrow.

As she walked pass, he shut it behind her, sitting back on the sofa and nodding to the chair across her. "Sit down."

However, the girl didn't, instead turning to face Neku. Before he got the chance to repeat himself, the girl lowered herself to her knees, back crouching down, placing her hands by the side of her head which was touching the floor. "I'm sorry."

Neku was stunned. D-dogeza?

"From your reaction today…I…we…we must have caused you a lot of pain. When I found out what happened…you were already gone. There was nothing I could do and…I felt terrible."

Now? She chose to say that now of all times.

"That doesn't change the fact that you didn't believe me. Apologising doesn't change anything."

"I know that," she said, voice trembling. "But you deserve an apology. You don't need to accept it but you needed to hear it."

"…"

He was unsure about how to feel over this. It had all happened such a long time ago and really, this apology was long overdue but it felt like it was too soon to hear it, especially after what happened earlier. It was too soon to forgive her. Even so, she was being sincere.

"…You don't have to bow like that. I don't need it." His hand moved on his own accord and tugged at the top of his spiked hair. "…And the floor probably has cat fur all over it now. You don't want to get your uniform dirty."

She picked herself off the ground, retreating to the chair Neku had specified, though now she seemed to be able to make eye contact with him. "You have a cat?"

As if on cue, Nimew meowed. Immediately the girl perked up, as Nimew hopped up onto her lap, making itself comfortable. "Oh my gosh! It's, like, the cutest thing ever!"

What's with girls and cats? He almost laughed out loud though because of course Coco would change gears if she saw something cute. It had always seemed even before that if there was a cause to be happy, no matter what the situation, Coco would go with it.

He had to give her some credit, though, because she seemed to have caught herself, looking pretty ashamed. "…I didn't think you'd keep a cat."

"It wasn't my idea. You can blame this girl for it." He shot a look at Shiki, who had been awkwardly standing near the corner of the room. He nodded towards the space beside him, and she hurriedly sat down. "You can see her, can't you? She's the Spirit who I have my Pact with."

"Yep. And 'the Spirit' has a name, actually. As Neku rudely forgot to say, I'm Shiki."

"I wasn't being rude, I just didn't think it was important."

"Hey! That's even ruder!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Neku replied, straight-faced. He noticed that Coco had the slightest of smiles. "What is it?"

"No…I'm just glad."

"Of what?"

"It's nothing." This time she looked at Shiki as she spoke, giving her a bow of the head. "Thank you for having me. I'm Coco."

"Anyway," said Neku, "how did you find my house in the first place? Kazemaru said you didn't know I was back…unless that was just another one of his lies."

Coco shifted uncomfortably as he said that. "No…I really didn't know. I was…honestly surprised to see you. After you and Kazemaru…talked," calling it a talk was putting it lightly, "I realised that I needed to talk to you without him being there. I thought going to your place was the best shot."

"So you asked one of those spy Reapers where I lived?"

"No! I don't like them." She seemed to shudder at even the mention of them. "I had to talk to you and this couldn't wait for tomorrow. I recognised your uniform and I called one of my friends from your school to see if they knew where you lived. Her name's Ai Urahara. I think she knows you." She paused. "I'm not going to but she told me to hit you over the head."

"…" Oh, well he knew why that was.

"Did you reject her?"

"No, it was her best friend – wait, how'd you figure that!?"

"If a girl wants to hit you I can only think of one reason. Did ya make her cry?"

"…"

"He did," said Shiki in an almost conspiratorial, not-so-soft whisper.

"Shiki!"

"What? You did!"

"Ne-kun never seemed to reject girls in the right ways…"

"Oh yeah? Whose fault do you think it was that I rejected them in the first place, anyway?"

The room went dead silent.

Oh shit. He didn't mean to say that. That came out of nowhere. He had not been thinking at all. He needed to backtrack. "What I meant to say is…well…I used to...you know..."

"It was a long time ago," she said, shaking her head. "It's fine, you don't need to say it. There are a lot of things that happened in those days that…I wish had not happened."

Yeah, me too. "Almost getting killed was not on the list of things I wanted to do."

She shook her head again. "Kazemaru didn't try to kill you. He wouldn't do that."

Neku was on his feet, glaring down at Coco as disbelief crossed him. "Are you saying that you still don't believe me? Oh, but wait you already said it, didn't you? You know the truth and yet you still hang around Kazemaru. Hold on. Why would Kazemaru even tell you the truth? You still don't really know what happened, do you?"

"I do! H-he said…"

"That's the thing. He said. Kazemaru said. He's been playing you like a puppet and you still don't get it." Neku knew that her previous apology was sincere so why was she still so naïve?

"N-no, wait –"

"I knew this was a bad idea. A person who thinks it's okay to still be around Kazemaru after hearing all that is -"

"Shut up, Neku!"

Neku almost jumped; it wasn't Coco who had shouted the demand – it had been Shiki. She was standing up too and her eyes looked more serious than he had ever seen them.

"Now listen here, Neku. Nothing made me happier than when you opened up to me. I felt glad that you thought you could trust me enough to let me listen to you. The thing is, the reason why you stopped opening up was because you were so hurt was that no one would listen to you in the first place. You of all people should know what it feels like when you want someone to just listen.So, don't you dare cut someone off when they have something important to say!" She huffed, letting out heavy breaths of air. "And if you're going to go on another emotional spree again then why the heck did I embarrass myself by crying for you?"

He didn't know if it was because she was standing this close to him or because the feelings she projected that got through to him were so strong but he felt a little breathless too.

Shiki was telling him to listen to Coco. Was it more for Coco's benefit or his own? He felt that it was the latter. You want me to be the better person. Is that it, Shiki? She didn't verbally say any more but with the way she looked at him, he could tell that it was the message that she wanted to convey to him.

"…Fine." He sat back down, with Shiki following his action after a relieved sigh. "Tell me what you need to tell me. I won't guarantee that I'll agree with or believe anything you say."

Even though he said that, Coco still looked grateful. "That's enough." She closed her eyes, seeming to prepare herself.

"Kaze-kun told me about how he really got his head injury." The one Neku gave him. "It was a long while after you left that he actually told me the start of what happened. I was…terrified. After all, you said that he even tried to kill you. But before he got to the part where he...pointed a gun at you, he stopped talking. Then he was muttering to himself and I didn't understand most of it but he said that it didn't make sense."

"What didn't make sense?"

"That it didn't make sense that he would try to kill you. Something about how stupid it would be." Coco held tightly onto the fabric of her skirt. "If…if he thought it would be stupid, he can't have really tried to kill you. The Kaze-kun I know would never do that…never…"

"I know it's hard to swallow but the reality is that the killing intent was there. I was the one actually there when it happened."

"That's…"

Shiki spoke up, "Isn't that strange, though?" Neku and Coco both looked at her. "From what I've made out, Kazemaru sounds like he's the reckless but from what you've said, he must have some brains too. If he was saying that killing you would be stupid, wouldn't he be right? There would be no way he wouldn't be found out. Neku would be reported missing and the first people who would be questioned would be his friends. They would have found Neku's body and then Kazemaru would be finished."

Wait. That somehow made sense. Maybe he had not been thinking about it objectively enough before, since that moment had been a life-and-death moment for him but even if Kazemaru was power-hungry enough to try and keep him quiet he was not stupid enough to kill someone. He would not take that kind of risk.

"…maybe he would have used the Reapers to get rid of the evidence," he said darkly. "Who knows what they can really do?"

Coco looked hopeful during Shiki's theory, but her expression fell again at Neku's suggestion. "No…he wouldn't have done that. After all, the reason could have been…"

"Whatever theory you come up with doesn't matter…Whether he tried to kill me or not, he still fought me and was still hiding things from us. He took control of the Reapers and that's enough."

"…I don't know everything that happened to him. I only started seeing the Reapers later on and even then Kazemaru didn't tell me much. But," she said, unwavering, "the Kazemaru with cruel words and actions – that's not the real Kazemaru! Please Neku, save him! You have to save him!"

Save him? Of all the things to ask him to do. "Save him from what?"

"From himself, from the Reapers, I don't know. Ever since they came around he's been different. I just want him to go back to normal. Just…for things to go back to the way they were before he made Pacts with them." Now she had gotten up on her feet, causing Nimew to jump off to avoid falling. "If you get rid of the Reapers then…then it'll be okay. You're the only one who can do it!"

He opened his mouth to tell her she was being ridiculous when he felt warmth hover over his hand; Shiki was telling him not to say it. Why…? It was then that he took a proper look at Coco.

She had a resolve. She had a whole-hearted belief that Kazemaru – her Kazemaru would come back to her. 'You of all people should know what it feels'.

If Neku said anything otherwise, it would break her.

"…I'm planning to sever their Pacts anyway. Not just me but," he pictured all of them, making his decision, "my friends, too. That's what we planned to do from the start."

He had his own resolve too. He already told Joshua and the others that he would fight alongside them. He would not back out now just because he had been…afraid…of facing Kazemaru again.

"Thank you." She bowed profusely, repeating the words or gratitude again and again, even as he was letting her back out.

She thanked Shiki too, though she waved it away sheepishly.

After she left Neku let out the longest of sighs. He didn't want to crush the girl. Coco after all, was almost as much of a victim as he was. Despite his not completely diminished uncertainty about her, he couldn't help but worry about her expression for when the Pacts really were gone. Even if they disappeared, he doubted Kazemaru would just suddenly turn tame. Things didn't work like that.

"I'm proud of you Neku," Shiki said, smiling at him widely and pulling him out of his thoughts. "You managed to lessen the pain a little bit…for both of you."

"It's because you were here. If you hadn't stepped in, I'm sure I would have just told her to get out. No, she wouldn't even have made it past the front door." He was certain of this. "It wasn't easy. Giving her hope that we can 'save' Kazemaru, even though he doesn't need any saving. Can someone like that even be saved?" No, not when they didn't want to be. "I don't get why she believes in him so much."

"You don't? Isn't it obvious?"

"It is?"

"It's because she loves him." Right, there's that. "I think…if you love someone, then you want to believe in them no matter what and protect them from being…something they're not."

There it is again. That foreign feeling that Shiki sometimes projected, that had been increasing steadily over time. It gave him a sort of tightness in his chest. Something that didn't disappear even after their connection was not on and made him wonder if he had it too. I don't know what it is…but…it's a bit more…familiar now. Somehow familiar, yet completely different…but to what?

"Shiki?"

"Yeah?"

"…What exactly are you feeling right now? Towards me?"

Her smile dropped and her cheeks went noticeably more opaque. "Idon'tknowwhatyou'retalkingabout."

He had to decipher what she said before replying, "It's just, I've been getting this certain feeling that sometimes I can't tell if it's coming from you or from me." A squeak from Shiki resounded. "Hey, you know what it is, don't you?"

She started taking a step back from him. "You must be imagining things."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure I'm not, especially from how you're reacting. So, what is it?"

"It'snothingthat'simportantatthismomentintime." With another squeak, she turned around and walked away from Neku towards Nimew.

He followed her, feeling amused now. "You do realise that I'll have to hang up if you want to leave now. Where do you think you can go?"

"Nowhere, everywhere, it doesn't matter!" Now, she started floating, ignoring her usual preference of staying on the same level as Neku. At this rate she'd get out of reach.

"Oh no you don't!" Neku jumped up to catch her hand. In doing so, he tripped and fell backwards, pulling Shiki down along with him. He just managed to stop his head colliding with the floor, which was a relief. And hey, now Shiki was down beside him on her bottom looking rather annoyed. "Heh. Caught you."

"Hmph. Okay, you caught me. So what?"

The question Neku originally had in mind was forgotten the moment they both realised that he caught her.

He stared at their connected hands in wonder. It wasn't like the other times, when his hand had just gone through the heat of her hands, but he could feel her encompassed in his grip. He squeeze on her hand, just to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

"Hey…isn't this?" he voiced out.

"It…it is! I can touch things!" Shiki tried to pet Nimew who was just about in her reach and sure enough the cat purred as she stroked him behind the ear. "We finally did it Neku! We're finally on the same level as the other Spirits!"

Shiki turned to move, surely to go and see how much she could move but Neku kept a firm hold on her hand, making her turn back to him.

"Neku?"

"We should just…stay like this for a while."

"Huh?"

"Just to check that it's not just temporary."

"…okay."

She lowered her back down so that she was lying next to him. He didn't know how long they stayed like that but after a long while, he let go of her. "…I think we're good."

"R-right. Good thing we checked, huh?"

"Yeah. Good thing we checked."

He hung up on her, not saying anything more than "good night" to each other.

Neku walked into his room to find Nimew on his bed. It gave him a look that said, "You actually said 'just to check'. Really? Really?"

He changed into his night clothes and shoved Nimew off the bed as he got into it.

"It's been a long day, okay? I don't even know what I'm doing anymore."

It really had been a long day, one that was to be followed by an even longer one.

Xxxxx

"Phones! Never do that again, aight?" Beat trapped his head with a muscular arm, the other holding onto his skateboard, and proceeded to give him a noogie that almost flattened his hair.

"Can you not do this here? People are staring," Neku struggled to get out of Beat's grip.

The busy as always Shibuya Station had its usual crowds and indeed, some people had started giving the group odd looks.

"You're the one who picked here as our meeting place when you texted us," Joshua told Neku as a reminder. "You should have expected Beat to react like that. He was raving on and on yesterday about how worried about you he was, after all."

"Bwaaaah! Priss, don't say that! I wasn't that worried." Beat immediately let go of Neku, crossing his arms.

"That's just how Beat is, always acting like the tough guy," Rhyme chipped in. "In all seriousness, though, we had to restrain Beat from going to your house and barging your door down. They say time heals all wounds, so we figured that you needed just a bit of time to figure things out."

You guys…Neku smiled, tugging at his collar. "Thank you."

"Besides, we couldn't interrupt you while you had two lovely girls in your flat."

…Joshua. Of course. Always ruining the moment. "Wait a minute, I didn't tell you that Coco came over yet."

"We managed to keep Beat from paying you a visit but it seems that my Other Self decided to take the responsibility of checking up on you and went to see what was going on." The compulsory smirk to that comment was ever-present. "I've got the gist of most of the things going on, so no need to explain. Before you start any protests about the visit, I would like to remind you that it was the Other me, so I had nothing to do with it. Besides, he was not the only one that was doing 'checks'."

"Checks? Huh? What's this, yo?" Beat asked.

"Nothing much, Beat. Just forget it," said Neku, giving Joshua the deadliest of glares.

"Heehee."

"You know, it's a good thing you consider me a friend. I'd hate to see what you would do to me if you didn't like me."

"Neku, that's hurtful. Beat, Rhyme, tell Neku how wrong he is."

"You kiddin' me? I bet if you were evil, whatever that Kazemaru guy did to Neku wouldn't even look half as bad."

"What Beat said. You're actually a pretty suspicious kind of guy, Joshua."

Despite the heavy insults, Joshua impressively kept his airs about him. "True. I suppose it is the geniuses who are capable of the greatest deeds. Speaking of deeds…" He pulled out something from his pocket.

He held out his palm, revealing five black pins that were decorated with a white skull and crossbones design. "These are the things that I was working on. I spent quite some time channeling some of my Soul Energy into these things. If we all wear them, we can use them when we get into a pinch and need an extra boost."

Rhyme peered at the pins. "Aren't those the limited edition pins that are sold as promotional items for CAT Studios?"

"That's exactly right, Rhyme," Joshua said. "They were gifts to Okami for agreeing to participate in the Classic Cat album. Of course, I hired someone to pick them up for me, as Okami's identity is still not public knowledge. I didn't know what to do with them for a while but after we started our training I realised we needed something small and easy to access without actually carrying them using our hands."

He handed one out to each of them and they all attached the pins to their shirts and beanies, respectively. "If you want to activate them, just touch them with the intention to release their power. It's only good for one use though, so timing is everything."

Wow…that must have taken a lot of energy out of him…

"Uh, that's cool an' all," said Beat, "but I still ain't gonna be able to see 'em, am I? An' I can't give them the smack down either."

"The one I gave to you has the largest store of Soul Energy out of all of them," said Joshua. "It should give off enough of a residual aura for you to be able to see them now. But if you use it for a boost, then that's it for being able to see them. As for landing a blow on them…if they're holding on to you or something else, you should be able to hit them back in that split second, since it goes both ways. The minute they're not holding anything, you'll go straight through them though, so be careful."

He then turned to Neku and gave him the last remaining pin. "Keep this one too. You're the one who's actually going to do the severing and need all the help you can get. Besides, even if Shiki can't wear it, it should be a good token for her."

Joshua really thought this through, it occurred to Neku as he put the second one on. Yeah…he's been planning this for a long time, so it's not surprising. Even Joshua would take careful effort if he had a cause to.

"Let's go."

xxxxx

They stayed by the entrance of the park when they arrived, already putting their guard up. They hadn't explored the park today yet but Neku had the feeling that if they did, they wouldn't find many normal people around. It could just be coincidence but perhaps the presence of a large number of Spirits would naturally deter people from lingering close by.

"We're here." Neku declared this openly. "Come out, Kazemaru."

"Sakuraba."

The voice came from a little ways ahead of them. Kazemaru stepped out from the side from behind a tree, hands in his pockets and a smile playing on his face. "You guys actually showed up."

"Of course we did." Neku's voice was no longer filled with hesitance as it did before, no longer in fear. He was ready for this now.

"Haha, I gotta admit, I'm actually kind of surprised. I really thought you wouldn't."

"Yeah, well I decided that I'm done with running away."

"That's pretty cool of you to do," said Kazemaru – an empty compliment. "I'll give you a warning. You don't know what we're capable of."

"Maybe, but the same goes for you." Neku reached into his pocket, touching his phone for reassurance. "I wonder if you knew that Coco came to speak to me yesterday."

"'Course I knew that. When she took off yesterday, there was only one place she could possibly be going to."

Yeah, Neku thought as much.

"So, was she another reason you decided to come here?" he asked, laughing. "I bet she was. It's about time she stopped sticking so close to me. It was getting annoying. I guess she finally developed enough brain cells to ask me to be stopped."

"You're disgusting. The reason she came to me was to ask me to save trash like you."

It wasn't on purpose but Neku wiped the gleeful look of his face.

"She asked you to save me? Ha..."

Kazemaru's green eyes darkened before he turned around, his fists tightening until they turned white. "Save me…who ever asked her to save me? I don't need saving." He seemed to shake with what Neku could only assume was rage that it was even suggested that he needed saving. There's really no turning back.

Another laugh.

"Uh…Joshua, why are you laughin'?" Beat asked.

It wasn't just his usual giggle – Joshua was actually laughing.

It made both Kazemaru and Neku turn to look at the boy.

"Haha…well," said Joshua, "I don't know if it's because that girl you're both talking about isn't actually here at the moment," he pointed straight at Kazemaru, "but right now your Soul is like an open book."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kazemaru's eyes narrowed.

"It means that I can read your thoughts." Joshua gave him an all-knowing smirk. "And I think I actually pity you."

"…"

"Emptiness takes you to the silence, emptiness makes me wanna fly, free the darkness that's falling down right now!"

"…Isn't that your Spirit calling you, Sakuraba?"

Neku's would-be answer was forgotten when three figures landed in front of him. The Reapers had arrived - Uzuki, Kariya and another one that Neku didn't recognise.

Their Boss looked surprised at their appearance. "I told you to wait for my signal, Minamimoto."

"That instruction was rejected," said the one with the silver hair and tanned skin. "You were just too slow. Orders aren't part of the Pact." His eyes glinted. "But that equation was solved ages ago."

"They're in control, don't ever recognize ya."

He turned to face Neku, "Is this who we're fighting?"

"Mystery's out, go long, Get inside ya!"

Neku clicked the call button and Shiki appeared next to him instantly, even bringing out Mr. Mew straight from the start.

"She's our target," said Uzuki, giving the two a devious look. "I'm going to give you the sweet taste of revenge." She was raring to go.

"Hah! Her? Now that's an unexpected factor." Minamoto raised his gloved fist. "This will be entertaining."

"Woah, there." Kariya pulled Uzuki and Minamoto back. "Boss came up with a strategy. Shouldn't we follow it?"

"As long as we get some fun, that's a reasonable conclusion." Minamimoto turned to Kazemaru. "Well, do you have any other orders?"

Kazemaru turned again and started walking down the path. "Just follow the plan." He stopped and looked back for only a moment. "I'll be at the end of this path if you hold them off long enough to come after me."

Before Neku could give chase, the group was alerted to the increase of hooded figures that seemed to pop up from behind trees – other Reapers that were there to hold them off. They outnumbered Neku's group with a four to one ratio. This was excluding Uzuki, Kariya and Minamimoto, all of whom radiated more power than the rest.

Beat, Rhyme, Joshua, Shiki and Neku found themselves drawing closer together, forming an outwards facing circle, all prepared to start fighting.

"Yo, looks like we're outnumbered, but we can take them."

"Divide and conquer. That'll be how we win."

"Hee hee. Let's make this an interesting fight."

"We have to win, no matter what."

"That's right. Let's do this!"

A/N: Tadaa! Remember when I said I would give you guys a present for being wonderful reviewers? This week-early update is your present. Surprise! :"D The last battle has begun! I liked how this chapter turned out and I'm feeling pumped about writing the next one. Hopefully it'll turn out as good as I want it to be in my head.

Thanks for favouriting/following to: I'll Break Your Heart, Pokeshipper-Reborn, HalcyonLife.

Thank you all for the reviews of pure awesomeness : Faliara, RagnartheSemiGreen, CirciFox81314, B.A.G-GOMEZ, I'll Break Your Heart, Reilie, Shinra-ex-SOLDIER, Xerzo LotCN, Chronic Guardian, Prussianess, MrHappie

Primo: Kazemaru wasn't expelled because no one really knew what happened (most thought Neku just beat him up). Also, his parents are rich. So. You know. Well, Neku didn't slam the door in her face but he did consider it xD

Chocolate Kiss: Yeah, Neku always has problems. Whoop.

Jt: Joshua and Kazemaru did have a little conversation here, so yay if that counts? xD I won't say how many chapters exactly but the fanfic will end by the end of this year, definitely. Sorry to say, but there won't be a sequel of this fic. I've got a different fic planned for next year – it's another TWEWY cast based one, so maybe you'll like that too.

That's all from me today! Thanks to everyone who read the chapter! See you next time!

Content Notes:

Dogeza - This is a type of Japanese bow. It used to show deference to someone superior or as a deepest sign of apology or to ask a deep favor from someone. It was considered extremely formal in the past, but nowadays if it is used for apology, it shows that the user has extreme contempt for his/herself. Coco uses this as the second use mentioned (the apology) however it's also kind of in preparation for the third reason (the favour). Neku's stunned because it's not common at all to see this sincerely. [Er, mostly got this off Wikipedia so that should be right. Maybe.]

Chapter Twenty - Clash

Ne-kun, you're going to fight Kaze-kun now, aren't you?

"Want to know a secret?"

Please…be careful.

"I remember now."

You can do this.

"I told you not to come!"

I do believe in you.