(I believe I have forgotten to edit some things when I was re-reading it all… well, enjoy : ) )

CHAPTER 4

During the morning of the next day, a reaper stood on top of a building with her hands on her hips while watching the sun rise, annoyed that all reapers in the UG are to be on a three week vacation. She tapped her foot checking her surroundings, then sighed and stared at the sun again. Another reaper appeared behind her in an instant, he took the lollipop out of his mouth and walked towards her, "and here I am, Uzuki,"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Uzuki growled, her short pink hair fluffing up a little, "I thought I told you to meet me here specifically at six, not six fifteen Kariya!"

"Easy girl," Kariya said in a calming tone, "I was checking up on something before I got here, I think you'll find it pretty interesting," the orange haired reaper placed the lollipop back in his mouth and twirled the stick slowly with his fingers. Uzuki turned her back towards him and folded her arms together, tapping her foot again in annoyance. He sighed and ran his hand through his orange hair, "Uzuki, you take your job so damn seriously. Look, a vacation is a vacation; you don't need to keep a look out for any players to sabotage."

"I'm not stopping until I get the promotion I deserve!"

"Yeah, yeah. So I take it, you don't want to see what I found hmm?"

"No, in fact, I couldn't care less," Uzuki replied turning to face him now. As soon as she did, ignoring her answer, Kariya held up a small pin to her. She blinked then tilted her head, "… you wanted to show me a blank pin?"

"Not just any pin, turns out, this is one of a kind." Uzuki was silent for a moment then burst out laughing, "are you serious Kariya? I mean, I know blank pins are uncommon, but they're not rare." He glared at her feeling somewhat disappointed in her, he flipped the pin in the air and smirked, catching it as it came back down, "I don't expect a reaper like you to understand," he said, knowing that his reply would tick Uzuki off. This time, it was her turn to glare at him, "just what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, if you took a closer look, you'll definitely see what's so special about it," said Kariya lifting his shoulders slightly. She stared at the pin that was now twirling at the tip of his finger; and after a while, she suddenly become curious. Also knowing that Kariya's been in the UG as long as she has and his knowledge goes beyond any reaper she's met, if Kariya saw something special, she knew it had to be. She grumbled and murmured to herself in defeat, "So… what is it about that pin that I should find interesting?" Kariya grinned, feeling excited to tell her until he felt a sudden shiver down his spin. He rolled his hand into a fist, hiding the pin in it. He began scanning around, looking left and right, and checking every rooftop on the buildings that surrounded them. The feeling he felt was rather strong and it sent a rather unpleasant vibe to him. Uzuki, confused, suddenly worried about him, "um Kariya? Are you like-"

"I can't tell you about it here. So it looks like we need to take off," he interrupted then jumped up and vanished. Confused but still curious about the pin, she vanished too, and followed his vibe.

Atop another building, a dark figure emerged from the shadows. Grinning and laughing lightly, the figure rushed and jumped from one building to another, going towards the next destination.

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Grabbing the sugar from the cupboard and some cream, Hanekoma sat behind the register and poured the added ingredients to his beloved mug of coffee. He took a sip of it and smiled in delight, "just the way I wanted," he said to himself. He glanced towards one of the booths on the side of the café, seeing the same person who sat there yesterday night. Except now, that person is laying down, slightly curled up, with an arm holding his head and Hanekoma's vest covering most of his upper body. He chuckled, remembering last night when Joshua had come in calling his name. He looked like he wanted to tell him something, which was good because he had something to tell the teen also. So they sat down to chat and Hanekoma had agreed to go first, and no later than five seconds after he started, Joshua was knocked out, fell into an abyss called sleep.

He placed a hand at the back of his head and rubbed it, sighing to himself about yesterday, "I should have told him not to use his powers so much." He heard Joshua groaned then saw him turn and position himself on his stomach, with one hand and one leg hanging from the edge of the seat

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Afternoon came around and as Hanekoma was at the back cleaning the kitchen top, he heard the bell to the door ring, signaling that a customer has just entered, "be right there," Hanekoma hollered from the back. He washed his hands and wiped them with a dry towel until he heard a familiar voice through the other side of the wall that divided the kitchen and the eating area, "I knew I'd find his lazy ass here." He took a peek out and saw a familiar looking orange haired teen standing next to sleepyhead Joshua, "phones!"

"Hey Mr. H," waved Neku now giving Hanekoma his attention. Hanekoma waved back and looked from him to Joshua, "sorry kid, but he's out cold, he used way too much of his energy yesterday. So it's best to keep him that way so that he can recharge,"

"…Recharge?" said Neku. Hanekoma waved his hand in the air, "ehh, long story phones. I think that's something you'd have to ask Josh about." He took a sip of his coffee and leaned forward on the counter, "so what will it be today?"

"Huh?"

"The menu Neku,"

"Oh," Neku shook his head. As soon as he saw Joshua when he came in, the questions he asked over and over again began floating around in his head. He blinked and looked up, "actually I just came here to see if Joshua was here…"

Hanekoma raised an eyebrow, then snickered walking around the counter and towards Neku, "aww, did ya miss him that much?" he said patting the glaring boy on the head. Neku grumbled a little and pushed away his hand, he took a seat crossing his arms looking directly at the sleeping composer. He relaxed and thought about the meeting after the game, where Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, and himself met for the first time in a week, "you know… I don't understand why he didn't meet us at Hachiko… I was really looking forward to it." Hanekoma placed his coffee down at the nearest table next to Neku, rubbing the back of his neck again, "he is composer you know, he's been pretty busy after the game. We all were,"

Pff, HIM? BUSY? Hard to believe. He's as lazy as an old dog that can't learn new tricks, thought Neku sarcastically. As solitude fell among them, Neku took a glance through the windows of the café, watching the people absentmindedly walk by, "Mr. H," he said, still looking out the window. Hanekoma was about to take another sip of his coffee but paused and smirked already been, and have been, knowing what the boy was trying to say, "I know you have questions for me Neku. I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge, but understand that I can't give away too much." Neku cringed slightly, wondering how Mr. H could know such a thing without asking, oh right… scanning, he assumed. He made a mental note in his head to remind him to ask Joshua for 'lying' lessons when he wakes up. He sighed, scratching the side of his orange spiked hair, "I've been wondering, about the relationship between you and Joshua. I've been assuming, that you knew him since he was much younger,"

"Correct!" he said, leaning against his chair and closing his eyes. Worried about the now silence between them, Hanekoma took a peek from one of his eyes and saw Neku patiently sitting there staring at him, "hmm? What?"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you going to tell me about it?"

"Oh, I see," he said leaning forward to make the chair stand straight as Neku rolled his eyes at him. He snapped his fingers and suddenly a bubble formed around them. In an instant, the bubble turned transparent, slicing itself at the middle and sliding down, like an eye opening to see the world. Neku freaked out a little but calmed down as it transformed, "what the hell was that?"

"Come on Neku, it's a bearer. To keep voices in, and unwanted ears out,"

"Why? It's only the three of us here, and one is skipping around dream land," said Neku, returning to his seat. Sanae raised a hand up, "just in case he wakes up. Truth is, he doesn't want me telling other people stuff about our past, but I personally don't mind. And trust you, so keep this between you and me, aight champ?"

Neku nodded.

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Down at the Shibuya River, Kariya was keeping an eye out for any unknown's lurking around, while Uzuki was fixing her hair using a pocket mirror. Seeing as the coast is clear, he calmly walked up to Uzuki with his hands on his hips, "are we done running now? And when are you going to tell me about that pin?" she asked, placing the mirror in her pocket. He took the pin out from his vest pocket and examined it, "I found it here, in the water," he said then tossed it over to Uzuki, who caught it like it was nothing. Her eyes widen in surprise when she felt an enormous power envelop her. Kariya grinned, "See?"

"This feeling. How could something like this puny thing, make you feel so powerful? I didn't know something like this existed in the UG,"

"That's the thing, it's not from the UG," answered Kariya, unwrapping a lollipop he took from his other pocket and sticking it in his mouth, "its home is the holy realm above us,"

"You don't say," squeaked Uzuki in delight. She laughed and put herself in fighting position. As she did, the pin in her hand began glowing brightly, "let's see what this is made of." She jumped and attacked in mid-air, pulling out her gun and firing pink flower bullets at the wall. As the bullets came in contact, Uzuki realized that the impact wasn't any different. She looked back at the pin that wasn't glowing anymore, and as being quick to anger, Uzuki crazily fired continuously at the wall. Kariya sighed and floated up towards her, "you gotta calm down girl," he said now hearing the firing stop. Uzuki turned to him with a loud growl, "WHY ISN'T IT WORKING? This piece of trash must have low battery or something!"

"Listen up," Kariya spoke, taking the pin from her, "it's not working because you are not its primary holder, rarely will it work on someone like ourselves." Uzuki was about to throw a tantrum when they heard a slow clap from behind them, "interesting… very, interesting," they heard a voice say. Kariya shivered a bit, wondering how he didn't sense that intense vibe sooner. They turned and saw a black hooded figure floating higher than they were. He chuckled and stopped his clapping, "you are quite intelligent for one so low in a rank, you could certainly go much higher," the figure said to Kariya who didn't answer back. He chuckled again and held out his hand covered by his long sleeves, "no need to fear, that pin is all I want. You see, I am its true holder, the only being to control and use its power."

Uzuki didn't make any move to bring the pin to him, she disliked ominous people and the hooded man has made it to her list of people that a lady, like herself, should avoid, "how about you buzz off creep. Like, haven't you ever heard of 'finders' keepers?' "

"You don't appear to understand. NOBODY but me can handle its power,"

"Ugh, you know you don't have to say it again. Big deal,"

"Besides," said Kariya, deciding to jump in the conversation, "it's pretty obvious that it isn't. Even with a person with your kind of vibe." The hooded man rested his arm to his side, disappointed, "… then it looks like I'll have to do it the hard way." Just like a flash of lighting, he swiftly moved forward towards Uzuki. A dark blade emerged out of his sleeve and slashed. Quick on his feet, Kariya pushed Uzuki aside, leaving the man to slice nothing but air.

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"so you want to know about our history," said Hanekoma.

Neku tugged his hair feeling guilty and embarrassed at the same time. Of course, he had been very curious and maybe Mr. H could give him some tips to withstand Joshua's sassy antics.

"Did you know that Joshua never use to be so clever, sly, and even snotty?"

Neku adjusted himself so that his arm is resting on the table with his hand holding his head up. One leg was on a chair in front of him while the other leg just stayed in place. Hanekoma continued, "Back then, you can read him like a book, but he didn't seem especially worried about it. He was one happy kid… at least, he seemed that way," he laughed, "he's a little shy at first, but he gets around in no time and honestly, he grows on ya,"

"Pshh, yeah right,"

"See? Im right. He grew on you too now didn't he? You never thought you'd see him as a friend at first." Neku thought about the game on the week where Joshua was his partner, and yes, after a couple days, he didn't mind Joshua at all, though he wished that he was a little straighter forward on his answers every time Neku asked him a question. "It's hard to believe that 'prissy kid' use to be shy; he always seems so… talkative, like he doesn't know when to shut the hell up sometimes,"

Hanekoma laughed again, "well… I guess you can say it's because of me. I gave him tips on being assertive. I mean, at an age so young, its better if they face their fears, have them crack open the shell a little, and eventually the shell will be nothing but pieces of the weakness that we've long forgotten,"

"Makes sense," said Neku, thinking about it. Hanekoma traced the top of his mug, making the steam from the coffee swirl around like a mini tornado, "heh, you're quick Neku, of course that's what I expect from you," he looked back at Joshua and smiled, "and so is he, that quick witted son of mine." Neku almost fell out of his chair when he commented on Joshua. For some reason, it was as if the message grew wheels and ran him over. Hanekoma glanced at the boy who was staring back at him in disbelief, "hey phones, you feelin' alright?"

He shook a little trying to process whatever he just heard from his biggest idol. This made him see both Hanekoma and Joshua differently than before, "he… he's your KID?!"

(and I'll leave it off from here so that it isn't too long :3 )