Title:Stolen Recollection
Genre: Friendship
Summary:"I've been watching you, silly…". For Neku, that was just one of annoying quotes from Joshua, but to the composer, it's more than what ears could hear. Maybe he needs to keep it all to himself…
Anyone who still read this, I really Love ya' all! And I apologize for the slow updates, have been suffering of stomachache these late two weeks…-_- and it still hurts…
Disclaimer: Whoever owns TWEWY please raise your hand!
…
Ch 10: Christmas
Christmas day is near! The day when kids get to hang socks on the fireplace, wishing that old man Santa would come and fill them with presents.
Though, that's a thing of the past, some kids still believe it, but the rest know that it was actually their parents who dressed up to convince them to behave or else they wouldn't get Christmas gift.
This year, with pure dumb trust, Neku believed that if it's not Santa, his parents will come and grant his wish. He wrote two letters, one for the old man in North Pole, the other was for his parents. Though, in the end he prevented himself from sending it to his parents.
This time, he wished that old man wasn't too busy to bring Joshua to his house.
…
Christmas is near, his foul mood also near. He may not have loathed Christmas, but he hates the day before it…
24thDecember to be exact. The day when he lay breathlessly on the snow.
…
"What did you ask for, for Christmas, Neku?"
Neku showed his friend an envelope ready to be sent. Shu raised one of his eyebrows, puzzled.
"I bet you won't let me peek a bit, huh?" asked Shu, peering at the envelope with prying eyes. His smaller orange-haired friend was surely one interesting fellow, mysterious, but fun at the same time.
"Well…"
Neku's voice cut off, "I know, I know, you won't let me…" Shu cringed. Neku replied with a laugh. He slipped the letter inside the postbox, clapping his hands twice, wishing.
"Let's go home, Shu!"
"You go first, I have to run an errand!" Shu waved his hand. Neku shrugged, but went home after a few seconds of doubt. Once Neku had gone from his sight, Shu climbed on the postbox and tucked his tiny hand inside the narrow hole, pulling out one letter after another. He smiled proudly when he found what he was looking for.
"I should show it to Uncle Neko!" he mumbled, "…he must know what to do with this!"
…
For the upcoming Christmas, Sanae had prepared some handmade ornaments of angels and snowflakes made of Graffiti to decorate his café. He asked his composer to help him decorate it.
Wrong person to choose, Sanae…he cursed as he watched Joshua just destroying his hard work.
"J, I told you to 'HANG' not 'RIP'" one angel had lost its wing courtesy to Joshua who had 'clumsily' broken the frail ornament,
"Whoops…" he stuck out his tongue, "…my hand slipped…"
It's a bad idea indeed…
…
"Uncle Neko!"
He squinted his eyes at the shout, "Shu?"
Shu gave him a wide grin, "My parents told me to buy cups of hot chocolate! Mom burnt all of our chocolate and supermarkets are getting their days off today" he pointed to the menu, "Oh! And I have something to show you!"
His hand held out an envelope, "This is my friend's" he said, "…quite childish for a guy like him…" he stared at the older man with a 'could you do something for him?' stare.
The man took the envelope, examining the scribbles with one glance. A shocked look appeared on his face before he put down the envelope on the counter.
"Okay, Shu, I'll try…" he nodded. "…your order's coming in a few minutes!" he turned around.
"Oh, and one more thing!" he pointed out his finger, "…how many time should I tell you to call me Uncle Sanae, eh?"
…
It's 24thDecember night. One Neku Sakuraba can't help but glance at his front door for the millionth time. No knock was heard and that didn't do anything good to him. His dad had finished gobbling down the last plate of food (after several arguments, no less) and they were chatting peacefully.
Well, maybe Santa or his parents can't bring Joshua for him…
…
"That's karma for ya, J!"Sanae laughed while his hand squeezed the wet towel he'd been dipping in a bowl of warm water. In the couch was one pale teen cuddled inside his blanket, trembling.
"Haha…very funny Sanae…very funny" wheezed the trembling lump. He sneezed before rolling around, showing his back to the older man. Great, just when did he get this 'little' cold from? Anyway it wasn't showing any good sign for him, because he couldn't run amok on such 'special' day.
If anyone took a look at him, his face actually didn't change. Just a slight blush of red on his nose and his skin had paled. Oh, and count that unstoppable series of sneezing. If the composer could become any grumpier than he was now, then it was probably when he was facing the annoying situation in the game.
"Anyway, I've got something for you…" Sanae threw the wet towel, causing it to soak the composer's face. His hand pulled out a ripped envelope, flipping it in front of Joshua's eyes.
"And what exactly was that?" Joshua faced the producer, wiping his face with the warm towel.
"Read for yourself!" Sanae casually put the letter on the composer's hand and watched as Joshua's eyes grew wider. His mouth hung open when his hand took out a folded letter. He skimmed it quickly and his face paled.
"No way…nowaynowaynoway…" Joshua shook his head. He propped up, shoving aside the blanket covering him. He felt a strong chill that his body couldn't take, so he pulled up his blanket again with eyes still wide and hand crumpling the letter.
He felt like running out of this place, straight for the boy. Sadness was one of those feelings that he wouldn't let the boy experience, since it was one of those negative feelings which could do damage to the boy.
Eyeing Sanae, he read his producer's facial expression shouting If you get up from that couch, I'll make sure you'll be grounded. He sighed, not at time like this… Sanae took the letter out of his clutch and compelled the composer to sleep.
"Wait here, and don't even try to get out!" he ordered, "…I'll fetch some tea!"
As Sanae went out the room Joshua got off from the couch, the thick blanket still wrapped around his weary body. With a quick movement, he got changed to his usual clothing without releasing his hand from the blanket. Just when he reached out for his coat, Sanae's footsteps were heard and he quickly pulled his phone.
No one orders me around…he muttered under his heavy breath
Sanae shook his head when he found one empty room right after the door flung open.
…
"No matches, turn the stoves off, don't play with those things and..."
"Don't let strangers in, I knew, mum..."His mother's worried face struck him straight in his eyes. A tiny hint of guilt came across his spine when he threw his gaze from his mother's sight. He had heard the same advice over and over again each time he was left in the apartment alone. He had memorized all of it and rarely ever disobeys any of it.
"Okay, we'll be back in the morning as fast as we can, okay?" she gave her son a pat, "…do you want anything?" her offer was immediately turned down by Neku's shaking head. She smiled bitterly and waved her hand, "See you tomorrow, dear…"
As soon as the door closed behind her, she huffed, half staring her husband, half staring the door like she could see through it. Her husband nodded, giving her a hand to follow him downstairs toward the parking lot.
…
He heard the song of his own city and he just knew something was not right about it. Something was happening to his fair city. That's weird…he'd been guarding this city for more than years, but nothing was threatening the city.
He likes this city.
No, he loves this city, very much.
The city was his pride and joy. He loves standing on top of one of the highest buildings inside it and just watches…the clashes of its people, the harmony they made, everything falls perfectly in its own song. The most beautiful song he had ever heard in his entire life. Even hearing it from his throne makes him smile.
No matter the odds, he must keep it safe…
For him…
No, for the city that he loved…
…
When Neku was about to reach for his toothbrush, he heard a knock from the door. Just a soft knock, but it successfully made the boy's heart leap in fright.
He tiptoed toward the door carefully, as soundlessly as he could and asked, "Who…?"
The reply was more knocks. Harder.
Now, he was standing right in front of the door. Yet, another knock, and it continued, making him tremble.
He wanted to ask again, but the knocks had stopped. That piqued his curiosity. He opened the locks, hands trembling. His hands turned the knobs and the door flung open. The cold wind slapped his face softly as he tried to find who had knocked his door.
In fact, the culprit was lying on the floor, collapsed.
Another fact, he knew who it was…
Joshua was wheezing the moment Neku saw him, and the boy freaked out.
What should I do?
Neku's mind was fuzzy, full of 'what exactly should I do!'. He examined the teen. He wasn't wearing a coat when he supposedly should. His face was paler than he usually was and a brush of red was clear on his cheeks and nose. The poor teen kept sneezing while Neku tried his best to drag him inside.
Now he hates his apartment...
It has a wide open corridor which lets the cold wind freely greet everyone who dares to stay out of their room. That could make Joshua's condition worse….
After a long struggle for about fifteen minutes or more, he managed to put Joshua on the couch and close the door. As he watched the teen's breath stabilize, he searched for a blanket and turned the stove on to boil his mother leftover's tea.
Well, the teen seriously needed more warmth…Neku could only think 'warmth' as his mother's tea and his blanket which was quite heavy for him. He covered Joshua with his blanket and leapt to get a cup of hot tea from the stove.
Neku could hear the teen was groaning in pain. Normally, he wouldn't budge at that sound, but he was totally scared. Quickly, the stove was turned off and he hurriedly brought the tea for Joshua.
It was quite cold in the room, even Neku shivered. While putting down the mug of tea, he tapped Joshua's hand, intended to wake him up. He bit his lips when he felt the teen's temperature. It was as cold as the snow. Neku was rubbing Joshua's hand when the teen's eyes shot open.
"Ne…Neku?" his lips parted, trying to form more words.
Neku pursed his mouth and did the most un-expected thing.
He cried.
Tears were rolling from his eyes, down his cheeks and onto his hand which still rubbing Joshua's. "I'm so…sorry…" he whispered, "…I can't help you…the same way you could help me…" sniffled boy.
Joshua stared at the boy meaningfully. He noticed the blanket and a mug of smoky tea beside him. That was Neku's doing? Smart kid…how could he say that he can't help him when his help was effective?
His free hand moved and he patted the boy's head. Neku could feel it's shaking weakly. He looked at the teen who was smiling gently.
"Thanks…"
And suddenly the room felt warmer…
…
His hand gently touched the snowflakes as he walked. The moon was shining brightly like a dimly shimmering fire when a candle was lit. Stars were also twinkling, adding to the beauty of the dark night sky. Under the night sky was a white soft-coated city that he loves. Spending his day-off in here was the best choice he had made. This isn't his sector's range, but he loves it.
He leaped to another rooftop, causing a few drops of snow to fall before halting his movement completely and twitching his eyebrows. A cold sweat dropped to his cheeks despite the chilly wind slapping his body.
"…Is this…a human's vibe?"
Putting his palm on the rooftop's floor, he gulped, "It's…not…" his wings spread out, "Should I investigate…or.." the small wings fluttered.
"Uuurgh…I'm an angel, even though I'm on holiday and this isn't my sector, Nesda always scolds me, so…I SHOULD check things out…" he said to himself, clenching his fist, "…All right, Al, you can do this…"
His wings flapped as he flew down three floors, peeking in the window with the only opened curtain in the corner. The unusual vibe was coming from inside the room.
Automatically, his eyes caught two figures, a sleeping orange-haired boy, and the other, the source of the strange vibe was a pale ash-blonde teen who was covering the little boy with a blanket.
Wait, had he saw that teen before?
The teen heaved, shaking his head and walked toward the front door, gone from sight.
He was shaking in fear, did his eyes just deceived him? Was what he saw true?
True or not, he should only do one thing…
"Nesda should know about this…"
…
I just saw some new reviews at 10thJanuary and I immediately started writing. But it's still sooo late until I could get it out…my mum nearly grounded me when she saw me stayed awake at 11 pm…But really, thanks for reading!^w^