I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Honestly, I wasn't expecting such a warm reception of this story. But I'm glad so many of you enjoyed it. Sorry for the shortness, by the way.
Disclaimer: I don't own The World Ends with You.
There has to be a reason, Rhyme thought for the seventh time in the last five minutes. There was logic behind every decision, whether it was a good choice or not. So what was Beat's reason? True, he may be the most illogical person Rhyme knew, but even he had to have known the enormity of his actions.
More than that, the punishment for said actions.
Rubbing her temples to soothe a now-growing headache, Rhyme turned the television back off. It was now a little after eight, and she was all ready starting to feel tired. Remembering that she had school the next morning, Rhyme wondered what her brother would do the next day. Would he just lounge around here? She knew he had a job to go to, but with all that yen, what would be the purpose of going?
"You sleepin' Rhyme?" Jumping when she heard her brother's deep voice, she sat up. "Ain't it early for that?"
"I wasn't asleep," she weakly defended.
"So we're Mom an' Dad?" Beat questioned as he sat down in the chair across from the couch.
"Well, Dad had to go make a speech somewhere about four hours away, I'm not too sure where exactly. Mom decided she'd go with him."
Beat grunted in acknowledgment, and then reached over for the remote. Rhyme had a feeling that would happen, since she knew how much he didn't like their father's job. He was a motivational speaker, and while not world-famous one, he was fairly well-known around the area. His job contributed to why he wanted Beat to succeed with such a passion, and why he didn't view failure as an option.
"Are you sure you wanna watch TV?" Rhyme asked hesitantly. "I mean, the news wouldn't be on anymore, but you never know what breaking news they might have."
"Naw," he replied, "It's good, yo. I kinda wanna see what they got on me." Rhyme could see the lie hidden behind his half-hearted grin. "You goin' to bed?"
"Not yet. Probably later."
However, her words did not match her actions. After ten minutes of half-watching whatever was on TV, she began to doze off, only to completely fall asleep after hearing a gentle, "'Night Rhyme."
"Hey Rhyme, wake up!"
Slowly opening her eyes, Rhyme was surprised to find herself in her own bed, after clearly remembering falling asleep downstairs. Had she woken up sometime in between?
"I carried ya up. You're still light, yo," he answered jokingly, a small smirk in place.
"Well, I don't think I could be quite as muscular as you are," she answered, rubbing her eyes. "Wait, what time is it?!"
"Relax, I know wha' time ya need to be up. It's after six, 'nough time to get ready."
"Thanks Beat. Do you want me to make anything? I might have time if I start now."
With a sheepish smile, he said, "Well, I found some cereal that I was just gonna eat. Wanna bowl?"
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be right down, I just need to shower first."
"No prob, yo."
Watching her brother exit her room, Rhyme threw the blankets off her thin form and got out of bed. Stretching, she walked to the bathroom next to her parent's room. Standing under the spray of warm water, she reflected on the fact that last night was not a dream. Beat really had robbed a bank, the proof being him there in person.
What were they going to do?
Dwelling on that question for ten more minutes, she exited the shower and put on the clothes she had brought into the bathroom with her. Quickly brushing her short hair, she left the bathroom and walked downstairs. Rhyme smiled a little at the sight of her brother, leaning back in his chairs so that only two legs were touching the floor, feet rested upon the table, the very way he sat at the table everyday when he still lived there.
"I wish you still lived here," she voiced, unable to keep it within her thoughts.
"You know I couldn' Rhyme. Mom and Dad wouldn' wanna put up with a loser like me longer than they 'ad to."
"Don't say that Beat!" Sitting down, Rhyme began to eat her breakfast, watching her brother. "You're not a loser. You never have been, and you won't ever be one."
With a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, Beat said, "Thanks Rhyme. Means a lot. You gotta say, doin' all this migh' make me one."
"Every cloud has a silver lining, Beat. It'll all work out, trust me." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince. Maybe both of them, since they gave each other an uneasy smile.
"Well," Rhyme began after she finished eating, "I better get going. It looks like it might rain, and I don't want to get wet. Are you just going to stay here all day?"
"Prob'ly. Maybe ride 'round a little."
"And you'll stay away from the business district, right?"
"Don' worry, yo. I know."
"Okay. See you later, Beat."
"Later Rhyme."
School had gone by slowly for Rhyme, but she had to attribute that to the fact that she had been reminded numerous times about her brother's actions the previous day. Despite how patient and non-violent she was, if she had heard, "Hey, did ya hear about that guy who robbed a bank?" one more time, that person would've been shoved into a wall. She wasn't sure if she had the muscle mass to accomplish that task, but it had sounded good.
Sadly enough, when her day wasn't full of hearing about the robbery, the only thing she did was think about it. Where was Beat going to go once their parent's returned? Was he going to stay in Shibuya? Better yet, was he going to stay in Japan? She could remember that he had expressed interest in visiting the United States a couple of years ago. Was that still something he wanted to do?
Needless to say, she was happy when the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school-day.
However, her unease returned when she arrived home and her brother wasn't there. Rhyme was about to call out to him when she remembered that he said that he might skate around town.
Yeah, he's fine, she reassured herself. However, not feeling the least bit better, she sat down at the table and began doing her homework. Still, thirty math problems later, Beat hadn't come back, and Rhyme found her worry increasing with each passing minute.
"Rhyme, you home?!"
Releasing the breath she wasn't aware she was holding, Rhyme answered, in a surprising collected tone, "Yeah, in the kitchen!"
"Sweet. I couldn' remember when you got out, so I didn' know when ta come back."
"I've been home for an hour Beat," she informed him, neatly placing her work back in her bag.
"Really? Sorry, I jus' got real busy." Taking off his hat, Beat ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
"What were you doing?"
"I ran in ta Shiki!"
Rhyme was surprised. The four of them, herself, Beat, Neku, and Shiki, had somewhat lost contact with each other over the past couple years. Of course, that was only natural, seeing as the last two had entered college, and therefore didn't have as much free time as they had had in high school.
"It was nice seein' her, yo," Beat continued. "She says hi to ya. And that Phones says it too. She was sayin' how we should get together soon or somethin' like that."
"Yeah, that would be really great. And you didn't mention anything to her, right?"
"'Course not, yo. I'm smarter than you think I 'm."
"I'm just worried, Beat," the girl sighed. "I mean, what're you going to do? You can't stay here forever! Eventually, there'll be some breakthrough in their investigation, and they'll find something that can incriminate you, and they'll realize you did this."
"Uh… what?" Beat questioned, not understanding half the words his sister used.
"Soon, the police will figure out that you did this, and they'll arrest you. Who knows how long you could be in jail for."
"Rhyme, I know, 'kay? Like I told ya, I'm just stayin' for a few days, aight?"
"Yeah, I know. But what're you going to do when you leave? I mean, you must have some sort of plan, right?"
Giving a hesitant chuckle, Beat nervously scratched the back of his head. "You don't have a plan, do you? You just did this without thinking it through, didn't you?" While she knew her brother, Rhyme was finding this hard to believe.
Please… please just let this be a dream! She begged, feeling unable to deal with this situation.
"Aight!!" Beat bellowed, voice reverberating off the walls, making Rhyme jump in surprise. "We're gettin' outta here!"
"And going where?" She found herself asking.
"Not sure yet. I'm thinkin' the skate park. Sound good?"
She remained silent for a few seconds, until she was incapable to hold back her laughter. The skate park! "Yeah, we can go," she agreed, allowing him the chance to go to such a simple place, knowing the next few days—possibly weeks or months, depending on how things continued—weren't going to resemble anything simple.
And there's chapter two. Again, let me know how I did with Beat's speech, even though it was apparently good in the last chapter. Hopefully I'll write the next chapter quicker, but no guarantees. Please review!