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Neku was rudely awoken by the morning sunshine hitting his face. He heaved himself from his bed, and went over to his sink. Turning the faucet, he caught the running water with his hands and splashed it onto his face.
Grabbing the nearest towel, Neku's next concern was food. His stomach grumbled for nutrition. He changed out of his night clothing and opened his door, finding resistance as he opened it.
"I'm sorry!" Neku exclaimed. He went around the door. On the floor lay Joshua.
"Hmph, I take back my apology then."
Neku noticed Josh's bag on the floor. He could see a CD slipping out of it. Neku could make out the letters EL PLAYER, the rest being cut off from his sight.
Joshua snatched the bag up quickly, making sure to carefully stuff the contents back inside.
"Oh it's no big deal Neku. I should have watched where I was going." The violet eyed boy snickered, going his own way.
"See you later, partner." Joshua offered a lazy wave, raising his hand and making a gesture without even glancing at Neku.
Neku remembered how hungry he was when his stomach grumbled. He walked over to the elevator, managing to slip inside before its doors shut themselves to him.
In the elevator was Ichirou.
"Oh hey Neku! Good morning." The blond teen exclaimed cheerfully. "Fancy running into you here. You know, I haven't really gotten to talk to you yet. I'm sure you're really cool. Especially the way you took out Raphael the other night! I mean that was insane."
Neku opened his mouth, but was cut off.
"I know what you're thinking. How did we get the awesome idea of making a band right? Well I wish I could take credit for it but it's not something any of us came up with."
This guy seriously doesn't shut up.
Neku, no longer listening to the rambling of the boy next to him, stared at the floor they were on.
The light indicated the pair were on the 3rd floor.
Two more floors to go.
"-and with the laptop, we received tons of ways to combat God. It was left by a former group called the SSS but there's no trace of them left, so we named ourselves in honor of their brave struggle."
"Ichirou!" Neku shouted his name. The talkative teen jumped, startled by the sudden outburst. "Not to be rude, but do you ever shut the hell up?"
Ichirou's expression darkened.
"I mean, what is up with you? No normal person talks as much as you do. I swear, you just like hearing the sound of your own voice."
"I do.." Ichirou was tearing.
Neku stopped his rant. What had he said that upset the teen next to him so much? "Ichirou? Are you okay? Was it something I said?"
The elevator doors opened. "No, it's alright. It's okay, cause you had no idea."
No idea of what?
Neku stood uncertain of what to say next; the elevator doors opened, and Ichirou spoke again. "Come with me, you're going to eat some breakfast right? I'll explain on the way.
The pair walked out of the building's exit and Ichirou began speaking. "It has to do with my life."
"When I was alive, I was unable to speak. I was born a mute, due to a birth complication in my vocal chords. I grew up without a mother- she had died giving birth to me."
Tears welled in the young man's eyes. "I had trouble making friends in school. Nobody tried to communicate with me, I was just a freak to everyone. The school bully would stalk me and beat me up after class every day. My father hated me. He thought I would never amount to anything and always be completely useless. He would beat me out of anger, blaming me for mom's death. One day he went too far, and ended up beating me until I was bleeding out on the rug. He left me to die there. I don't know what become of him after."
Neku was wide-eyed. This poor soul led a horrible life.
"That's why I talk so much here. I never could in life, but when I awoke here, I had a working voice. I joined the SSSII cause I can't forgive God for giving me such an unfair life. If only I had my mother, I might have been able to cope with it all."
"Ichirou... I'm sorry."
"It's okay Neku. I manage with it, right now all I'm concerned with is getting back at God for what he did to me. Everyone here is."
Everyone here.. Does that mean all the SSSII members led lives as terrible as Ichirou's? Wait, what does that mean my life was? Was my life horrible too?
The two of them passed by the cafeteria building wall, which was littered with graffiti. Neku stopped. "Ichirou, you go on, I wanna take a look at this stuff."
The blond male walked on, entering the building through the double doors.
Neku admired the art on the wall. It was comforting to look at, offering the young man a sense of familiarity.
Neku's attention was drawn to one picture in particular. It was a mural of a cat, with a strange facial expression. The word "CAT" was painted in bold next to the painting.
The image spoke to Neku, and he felt a jolt run through his being.
Neku's mind flooded with images; he saw a wall similar to the one before him, only the graffiti stretched farther. The next thing he witnessed was him walking down a street, casually listening to his purple beats.
The final vision he saw was himself once again at the wall, admiring the various murals. He stared longingly at the ones with the word "CAT" painted next to them.
His dream was shattered, and he heard a gunshot. The vision faded to black before he could see the shooter.
Coming back to reality, Neku's eyes widened. It was all there, his life, everything.
No, not all of it. The memory surrounding his death was still missing. He couldn't recall the face of his killer, yet he could feel like he had seen him.
Deciding to tell Minako later, he opted to finally grab himself breakfast. He entered the cafeteria, selecting a helping of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, and exchanging the meal ticket for his food. Setting his tray down at a table next to the vending machine, he walked over and inserted his money. Neku pushed a button and a can of orange juice dispensed.
After enjoying the meal, Neku wandered to the SSSII HQ, briefly stopping to admire the graffiti from earlier.
"Hey Neku." Minako fell in synch with his step.
"Ah Minako, this is perfect, I've been looking for you."
"What's the matter?"
"It's my memories. I've got them back."
The blonde frowned "Maybe we should go somewhere private. Come on, I've got just the place."
After a brief trek to the Athletic Center, the two found themselves on the rooftop overlooking the field once more.
"How bad is it?"
Neku was silent for a moment "It could've been worse. I lived in Shibuya, born and raised. My parents abandoned me at an early age, leaving me on my own. I was taken in at a local orphanage, but the children there didn't accept me as one of them."
Minako listened intently to the orange haired youth. "When I turned 14, I fought for the status of emancipated minor. Anything to get away from the orphanage. I got a part time job, and saved until I could afford a cheap place at Dogenzaka. School was tough. The students were brutal, and I would be beaten by the bullies frequently. One day, while running from them, I found an alleyway in I had never noticed before. There was art of all sorts on the wall. That was when I was introduced to the artistic genius CAT. His art inspired me to keep going. I would go to the mural during my free time between school and work. I could hardly stay away from the place. Beneath the antisocial shell I built around myself, I felt a connection made with CAT. His art spoke to me, no, it spoke to my soul."
"So how did you die?" Minako asked innocently.
Neku winced. "One day while I was admiring the murals, someone shot me. That part is still missing, I don't know the face of my killer. I can feel the memory there, but when I try to call on it, nothing comes."
The girl frowned "Well that doesn't make sense. Whenever someone around here got their memories back, it all came at once."
"Do you think... My killer is in this world?"
"I dunno, what gives you that impression?"
"The murals near the cafeteria. They're what sparked my memories to return, and the resemblance to the ones drawn by CAT was far too similar to be randomly created. Someone from my city must be around here to even know about him."
Neku about-faced, and leaned on the handrail behind him "How about you Minako? Not to intrude, but what was your life like?"
"Is Neku Sakuraba asking a personal question? When did you grow a heart?" Minako smiled sadly "Sure I'll tell you, only because you told me your story though."
Neku leaned forward off the rail, and shifted to face Minako, making eye contact.
"My family wasn't much of a family at all. My mom and dad worked long hours, barely scrapping together money to pay the bills. I didn't blame them for it, I knew they cared. Still, I craved emotional fulfillment. I desired that familial connection that other kids my age all had with their parents."
Minako paused, drawing in a breath before continuing the tale.
"It was my final year of high school. I was ready to graduate and head out into the world. No more than a month in, I met a guy, and I fell hopelessly in love with him. He saw that, and pretended to reciprocate the feelings. Less than two months later, I was pregnant and he had left me, having used my wish to feel loved in order to take advantage of me. Months went by, and the other students would always talk about the pregnant girl behind her back. The time finally came, and the child was ready to be born. Labor was long and rough. In the end, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Unfortunately his life came at the cost of mine, and I had died."
Minako was sobbing at this point "It's cruel really. I know being a mother would be extremely difficult, and probably was something I wasn't ready for. However, a child would have been exactly what I asked for, unconditional love. I wish I could have met him. I would have been as good a mother as I could've been.."
So it's true then. Everyone here lived a rough life to an extent.
Neku opened his arms, and pulled the blonde girl close to him, tightly embracing her and rubbing the back of her head as if to tell her things were okay.
Wiping her tears the blonde quelled her sobbing "Neku, we should go."
"I'll catch up with you later. There's some thinking I need to do."
The two said their goodbyes, and Minako left Neku to his thoughts on the rooftop.
I think it's time I have a conversation with the president of the student body.
Once more, Neku took his beats and placed them upon his head. Casually walking to the entrance to the building, his steps corresponded to the beat of the music screaming into his ears.
At the dorms, Otonashi and Kenta were having a discussion. The topic was the mysterious stranger that Kenta had contact with the evening before.
"So you couldn't see his face?"
"Nope. All I could see that would we be a defining characteristic would be the eyes. His were a violet color."
"And you said he killed you in one slash, without you even having a chance to respond? This could be bad..." Otonashi furrowed his brow. If someone could single-handedly defeat Kenta without breaking a sweat, they could prove to be a real problem. His plan to put all the SSSII members at peace didn't account for such a sudden development.
"I want you to be careful Kenta. Don't confront anyone you don't recognize as an SSSII member. Worst case scenario we should be able to figure out who it is that did this to you last night by process of elimination, if the person is with them at all."
"But the eyes. I could clearly make out violet, only two SSSII members I know of have violet eyes."
"The same way you have crimson eyes. They could just as easily be disguising themselves and masking their eye color as a way to throw you off. Just don't eliminate anyone as a possibility until you have good reason."
"I'll practice making guard skills. It wouldn't hurt to have some new abilities, especially if this guy was holding back."
"Agreed." Otonashi exited Kenta's room, and the tall male searched his drawers. He opened one and was surprised to find what he was looking for wasn't there. He frantically searched the room, checking in any place he might have accidentally put the item.
After 20 minutes, the boy was sweating "This isn't good, someone got the Angel Player!"
Meanwhile, Neku was heading for the dorm rooms. He wanted to speak to Otonashi, now understanding that he was serious when he spoke to him the first day.
He approached the desk on the first floor, with a security lady behind it.
You know, now that I think about it, I've never spoken to one of the NPCs. I wonder how human they are.
"Um excuse me ma'am, I'd like to know which room President Yuzuru Otonashi is in."
She looked at Neku "One moment please." She typed away on the computer and a window came up with a picture of Otonashi in it. "Says here that he's in room 354, third floor."
Neku thanked the woman, and made for the elevator. The doors opened and Joshua walked out. "Ah good afternoon Neku."
"Hey Josh." The teen was too focused on his objective at hand to bother with the annoying boy's attitude.
Entering, Neku pushed the button for the third floor, and waved to Josh "See you later."
Hopefully not.
Arriving at his destination, Neku turned right and proceeded down the east wing. He caught a glimpse of Otonashi entering his room, and called out to the flame-haired boy.
"Hey! President Otonashi! I gotta talk to you!" He said, running to Yuzuru.
"Ah, well hello Neku, come on in." He opened the door wide, politely allowing his guest to enter first.
Shutting the door behind him, Otonashi asked "What can I help you with Neku?"
"It's about what you said. I finally understand it, after hearing the stories of some of my friends here, I realize what you said to be true."
"So what now?"
"How do I get out of here? What do I need to do ?"
Otonashi smiled, having finally gotten through to the stubborn boy.
"You have to be able to let go of all your regretful emotions. If you can do that, you'll be able to pass on and have a second chance at life."
So that's how it works.
"I get the feeling you don't want to just pass on though" Otonashi continued. "I see a bit of myself in you, and if you're anything like me, you wanna help the others pass on. See, not too long ago I was like you. I awoke in this world without any memory of my past. I joined the SSS and fought Angel with them. When I learned about the nature of the afterlife I decided to help them pass on."
"Maybe I do want to help them. Nobody deserved the lives they were dealt."
"Tell you what. If you can learn all their lives, I'll do my part and help them pass on. Sound fair?"
"...Deal."
The boy got up, opening the door and stopping "What about you Otonashi? Why are you still here?"
"Because I need to be." Otonashi plainly stated.
Content with the answer, Neku left the room, the door swinging closed behind him.
Thinking out loud "It's exactly as I thought. History is repeating itself."
Otonashi's door opened once more, revealing the face of Kenta Kiyoshi. "Otonashi, we have a problem! Someone stole the Angel Player program from my room!"