Chapter 2

Neku Sakuraba and his friends were hanging around Hachiko. It still thrilled to even think of himself as having friends. He, Shiki, and Beat were attempting to explain to Rhyme everything that had happened over the weeks she was a pin. Shiki had told the last three days of that first week, and Neku and Beat in tandem had told the next two. Shiki joined back in the telling at the point where she had quite literally woken up lying on her back in sewer sludge, at the Shibuya river. But when they got to the part when Beat and Shiki had been frozen, only Neku could go on.

"So, Rhyme… Joshua froze them cause," and this part was still hard for Neku. "Cause Joshua is the Composer of Shibuya. He made a bet with the Conductor, about whether or not Shibuya should exist. And he killed me so I could play for him as his proxy. He froze Shiki and Beat after we killed Kitaniji's dragon and challenged me to a final duel. Winner got to be Composer and decide what happened to Shibuya. We both took a gun, but I…I couldn't shoot Joshua."

"I still don't get why not, yo," Beat put a hand to his forehead.

"Cause Joshua was his friend, Beat," smiled Rhyme gently.

"And for some reason, Shibuya is still here," added Shiki. "So maybe Joshua changed his mind or something."

"I don't think he was a bad person," Rhyme ran with the conversation. "And I don't think the Reapers' Game is an entirely bad thing either."

"Whatchu say, Rhyme?" Beat looked shocked.

"Beat, Neku was the only person here who stood to lose anything that Game. Joshua killed him, so he could have lost his life that he wouldn't have lost normally," explained Skulls Jr., as Kariya had called her so long ago. "But Beat, you and me and Shiki all died anyway. If it weren't for the Game, none of us would be here right now. I think we owe the Composer…Joshua…something."

"You should listen to her, Neku. This kid's pretty sharp," came a familiar voice from behind the statue. Then an even more familiar giggle.

"Joshua! You did come!" Neku exclaimed. He had invited Joshua in his head, more as a vague hope than anything else. Because they were friends. They were partners. "Shit. I didn't think you would. So you are monitoring my thoughts?"

"Actually that's one of the things I came to talk to you about," Joshua came out from his comfortable leaning spot. He wasn't in his Composer form, but in his child form, and his violet eyes glinted. It bothered Neku how much he'd missed that. "You were right. I took care of things. But there's still one loose end."

"Oh yeah?" Neku was apparently the only one who could talk. The others were all still in shock. Beat was glaring, and Shiki and Rhyme were just dumbfounded.

"Our Pact, Neku. It's not dying easy." He folded his arms angrily. "Believe it or not, I was trying to do something nice for you."

"Free of charge? There's no game involved? Who are you and what have you done with Joshua?" Neku stared back in the same way.

"Tee hee…I'm glad to see your wit hasn't dulled in my absence. But seriously. I was trying to cleanly sever all your ties to the UG at once."

"Yeah. I really appreciate how you always use 'cutting things' metaphors with me." They were slipping more easily into this friendship than he had thought.

"Okay. Well, there are some things you should now. I owe you an explanation, I think," giggled the Composer.

"Damn right you do," Neku agreed.

Stupid 000s! How dare they forget him! That hectopascal, the Composer, had crunched him and then just left him there! He hadn't even made sure he was dead! Zetta insulting! He needed revenge. All those Players and the Composer… Neku Sakuraba, Daisukenojo Bito, Raimu Bito, Shiki Misaki, and Yoshiya Kiryu. All of them were garbage and he'd add their bodies to the heap.