( and now for the real story :3 )

CHAPTER 1

Mr. Hanekoma shivered slightly as he stood in front of the big guys up in the higher plane. There was light and clouds everywhere, though some of the light was shielded from the large pedestals that stood around them. They were high, but not as high as the pedestal in the middle, reserved for the higher angel of the higher plane.

Angel figures stood behind them with their angelic wings sparkling brilliantly. Another shadow creeped along the cloudy ground where they stood. Hanekoma took a deep breath and composed himself, telling himself to calm down for his own sake. The higher angel now stood before them, her long dark hair swayed slightly as she glanced on both sides, making sure all of the council has attended. Her dark eyes moved down, now glancing at the two familiar faces at the bottom. From far away, she looked about the same size as the other angels flying in the higher plain. Actually, she's twice the size as everyone else. Her wings, if stretch out much farther, are about the same length as a standard football field.

Hanekoma cleared his throat and lifted his hand towards her, "sup' chief."

She glared down at him in an instant, causing Hanekoma to turn away, must be in a bad mood, he thought.

Relaxing a bit, she took a good look at the other person next to Hanekoma. Ashen blonde hair, dark violet eyes, a young man sitting on a chair with a sitting position that says 'this is so boring I think I'm going to die' Even his facial expression says it all. Instead of gazing upon the higher angel, he occupied himself by bouncing a tiny cloud with the tip of his finger, bounce up, tap down, bounce up, tap down.

"Yoshiya Kiryu," she called out. Bounce up, tap down, bounce up, tap down, "Composer of Shibuya," she called again.

Bounce up, tap down, bounce up, tap down.

Hanekoma looked at him from the corner of his eye, "Josh," he hissed quietly. He looked up and saw that she was becoming irritated, being ignored by Yoshiya (aka Joshua) Ruler of Shibuya. The other angels don't seem pleased either. Before she could speak again, Joshua yawned then finally spoke to her, "… you called?"

She continued to show her look of annoyance towards him while the others glared. The man to the right, of her, named Tora, rolled his eyes and snorted, ruffling his feathers.

"Yoshiya," she said again, "that arrogant and stubborn personality of yours is not welcome here, so be careful about what you say and act to the council. Take this judgment seriously, Yoshiya. You placed your city in a serious state because of your little game with Megumi!" her voice gradually grew louder as she came to the end of her sentence. Joshua shrugged and looked away. The higher angel continued, "The people of Shibuya may have been suffering, and the game would have made them suffer even more until a certain proxy of yours-"

Joshua frowned a little and became slightly pissed off about the things she said just now, but having good self-control, we was able to tolerate it while he kept visioning himself shooting levitation beams at her wings, causing him to ignore half the things she was saying.

"but then…" she said, snapping him out, "you revived it in the end… what is your reason?" she gave him a confused look, one that Joshua had never thought he'd see on a being higher than his and Sanaes. The two stared at each other for a while, until Joshua sighed and looked away. Her shoulders relaxed, but it was evident that she was slightly disappointment on his part, they both knew why he spared Shibuya, and she only wanted to hear it from the composer himself. She closed her eyes and spoke again, this time softly, "still… rules are rules, and such actions like this can not go unpunished." Just like Sanae, the higher angel also took a liking to the young composer. Because of his sight when he was still alive, she had high hopes for him, and when he achieved that she had hoped that one day, he'd be as great as herself.

Tora eyed her carefully; with that ever so apparent frown he's always wearing every council meeting. He looked down at the two, grinned, and chuckled. Her eyes snapped open and soon found herself eyeing him warily, "welp!" the old man angel said, raising his arms, "that's that. You might have thought you'd done something… "Good" for the sake of whatever, but there's no denying it, what you've done was a complete mistake from the beginning. You two can't escape punishment for your pathetic acts, now can't ya?"

Joshua turned and gave him the death glare. He had just met the angel and already he disliked him.

"Complete erasure, that's what it is," he continued, leaning back and resting his hands on his chubby belly. The higher angle sighed, looking sadly upon them, "he is right. For something like this, it would have earned you both erasures,"

Joshua looked at Hanekoma from the corner of his eyes. Mr. H placed a hand at the back of his neck, his shades covering his eyes though Joshua could tell that he was feeling hurt by the decision that the angels had placed on them both. Or, so he thought that was the decision. Joshua glanced at her again, noticing something she said, "wait, you said 'would,' you have something else on your mind I presume,"

She nodded and suddenly all eyes were on her, "I've decided…" she paused for a moment to really think this through. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, mouths gaped open and waiting to hear her decision. Was there anything worse than erasure?

The higher angel took a deep breath, "I believe that sending you to the RG is a good enough punishment, for you Yoshiya Kiryu."

As expected, the whole room was filled with whispers of confusion and disagreement; yet, nobody made a move to question her about it. Even Hanekoma was a bit surprised. Tora almost fell out of his chair, but regained his balance and pulled forward, "are you serious?" he whispered to her, and she said loudly, "of course, there is never a day that I am not. However, Yoshiya, you are to remain in the RG for three weeks with limited powers. From that time on, you'll be living as any human would in the RealGround until your three weeks have expired,"

Joshua placed a finger on his chin, "… so my punishment, is a time-out from the UG… sounds good to me," he said with his signature smirk, no matter how childish that is, he placed his hands in his pockets, "and what about my dear producer?"

The higher angel took a good look at Sanae, "he will remain in the RG with you too. Except with his full abilities,"

Sanae was pleasantly surprised, no whispers of disagreements on his part. She continued, "You did what you had to, to protect something you love, even when you knew the risks. You are devoted, and that's something the council respects. However, because of your deed, you are still to remain a fallen angel."

Hanekoma withdrew back to his shades, "I see," he said quietly.

She raised her hand and suddenly a blank pin appeared, slowly guiding its way towards the two, "my only wish is that you'd protect that pin during your time in the RG and are to return it to me after," the pin shifted and made its way to Joshua, slowly twirling before him. He took the pin and held it up, examining it before placing it in his pocket.

All of the angels spread their wings, signaling that they were about to take off, "the judgment has ended; I only wish you two a good luck." Hanekoma and Joshua bowed, then turned and headed out of the council room and furthermore, knowing the true intention of protecting that pin.

Noticing that Hanekoma was still hiding behind his shades, Joshua couldn't help but feel guilty, knowing that all of this was his fault. He was good at not showing it, and he tried to get it off his mind and focus on his own punishment; which he found a little strange. His violet eyes stared at the ground as the two of them walked out.

Most of the angels left and some remained, watching them leave. As soon as they were out of sight, Tora spoke, "I don't understand your reasoning. It would make perfect sense to just erase them. One is too young and one is a fallen, and in any case they're worthless, and if word gets out which probably already has, who knows how this will affect other zones,"

"Tora," she growled at him, "are you questioning my-"

"No no no! It's not like that…" a sweat drop slowly slithered down the side of his face. The higher angel flapped her wings, "it's simple, I believe they deserve a second chance. Besides, I believe that time as a human for Yoshiya would help him realize his mistakes… and maybe regain something he's lost," she smiled as she said the last part, and suddenly with one more flap of her wings, she was gone in a flash of light.

"Psh… as if he hasn't," Tora could only grumble as he left.

Sssssssssssssssssssssss

Down in the RG, a spiky orange haired male leaned against the statue of Hatchiko, listening to his mp3. He wore the usual all 'Jupiter of the Monkey' brand. Not too far from him now, a girl wearing a green blouse, white mini skirt, black leggings, and white sneakers came running up to him. She adjusted her glasses and giggled at him, knowing that he hasn't noticed that she arrived. She walked up and tapped his shoulder, making him jump a little. He slid down his head phones and sighed, "Shiki, next time walk in front of me."

Shiki giggled again and winked at him, "well you're extra jumpy today, Neku,"

"Ya think?" Neku said, tugging on a strand of his hair, "… I honestly thought I got over it. It's been two months since the game and I'm still an alert freak. I'm not usually like this, really."

Shiki nodded and looked at Hachiko, "you took a whole lot from the game than we did. Don't worry! You'll get over it, it just takes time,"

"… I guess you're right. But…"

"But?"

Neku stared up at the Hachiko statue and recalled memories of the game, all three weeks. The silence passed between them, the passerby's who chatted on their phones, talked to their friends, and the sounds of their laughter and cries undisturbed them, "… never mind," Neku said, then turned to Shiki and smiled, "what's important now, is that we're here, back to our lives." Shiki responded with a grin, agreeing with him.

"YO PHONES!"

Both Neku and Shiki turned and saw Beat and Rhyme running towards them. The two siblings, almost wearing similar hats, halted as they reached the other two. The older sibling, Beat Bito, wore a sleeveless white shirt, a skull necklace, and red shorts. His little sister Rhyme Bito, wore an orange sweater with a skull design at the front, and white shorts.

"The Beatsta' has arrived," said Beat, jumping off his skateboard. Neku could only roll his eyes, "great, all three of us plus Beaver here, is accounted for,"

"Yo I ain't no Beaver," said Beat who raised his fist in the air towards Neku. All three of them could only laugh, leaving the poor older Bito confused. That completely dissolved once his stomach started growling, "Man I'm hungry,"

"Let's head over to Ramen Don," Rhyme said with her always cheerful expression. The rest agreed and headed towards the scramble. Neku took a few steps forward, and then stopped. He looked up at the sky thinking about him; it would have been five… if you were here, Josh.

( sry, but this isn't a Josh/Neku fanfic : if anything, this story also deals with their friendship as well)