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Frequency	By : ColdSilence Category: +S through Z > World Ends With You, The (Subarashiki Kono Sekai) > World Ends With You, The (Subarashiki Kono Sekai) Views: 1622 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The World Ends With You / Kingdom Hearts and its characters all belong to Square Enix and Jupiter. No profits are made from this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Author: Cold Silence
E-Mail: writer.coldsilence@gmail.com
Pairings: Joshua x Neku, Neku + Shiki, Joshua + Rhyme
Warnings: There shall be homosexual sexual liaisons, and very sweet heterosexual proclivities.
Special Note: This will be a very long, multi-chaptered fic. I hate when I get sucked into these!
Archive: Someday, I’ll get around to updating my website. So for now, you’ll only find this fic here!
Disclaimer: All characters from The World Ends With You belong to Square-Enix and Jupiter. No profit is made from this story.



Frequency
-Chapter Two-


    Neku lugged the frilly blue bassinet and overstuffed baby bag up the stairs to his house. The load was so heavy that he wondered how parents could deal with carrying these kinds of things all the time. Once safe inside of his home, he placed the bassinet on the end table and dumped the baby bag on the ground. Neku flopped on the couch, and then narrowed his eyes at the squirming baby.

------------------------------

    “He’s a baby!” complained Neku. “I can’t take care of a baby. I don’t know anything about them!”

    “He won’t be a baby forever,” assured Sanae. “Eventually his base vibe will recover; you just have to sit tight until then.”

    “And how long is THAT going to take?”

    “A few weeks, a few months – just know that it’s not forever, alright?” said Sanae with a sigh. “Look, I promise that as soon as things are settled in the Upper Plane, I’ll come back to help you. Just sit tight until I get back.”

    “What about my parents?” asked Neku. “They’re going to notice that there’s a drooling baby in the house.”

    “Don’t worry, I thought of that,” said Sanae. “Joshua is wearing a pin with the command code of ‘belong.’ I call it Family Time. Your parents will think that he’s related. Just make sure that he never takes it off, and you won’t have any problems.”

    “This is crazy,” seethed Neku. “You owe me. You so owe me.”

    Sanae rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry boss. I swear you were a last resort. I promise as soon as I get back, this will be completely out of your hair.”

    Neku grumbled as Sanae passed along a blue baby bag decorated with clouds – obviously meant to match with the blue bassinet. The angel gave one last salute and a hasty goodbye, and then he left the porch while the going was good. Neku stared holes into the Producer’s back as he walked away at a fast pace. Then he looked down at the bassinet that he was left with, and the heavy burden that he would be carrying for god knows how long.

------------------------------

    “You are the reason that horrible things happen to me,” said Neku out loud. Joshua couldn’t answer. He was more interested in grabbing his own feet and inspecting the booties that he wore. Neku sighed, and then he pushed away the hood of the bassinet so that he could look for the pin that Sanae was talking about. He found it clipped to the hem of the t-shirt that Joshua was wearing. It was pink and blue with a lavatory-like emblem of an adult holding a child’s hand. The symbol reminded Neku of public changing rooms that allowed parents to bring their children in with them.
    Interestingly, there was a second pin that was clipped directly next to the Family Time one. Neku recognized it instantly; it was the Harmonizer pin. In its current state, its surface was completely blank. He wondered why Joshua would need to wear it. Neku could only guess that it had something to do with his ‘base vibe,’ whatever that meant. Sanae didn’t stick around long enough to explain to him exactly what was wrong with the Composer.
    Joshua was watching Neku. He looked perfectly innocent and cherubic as a child. Neku was actually a little afraid to touch him. Babies were one of things that he avoided like the plague. He didn’t want to get barfed on, or listen to the grating sound of a baby crying, or clean their poop. Leave it to Joshua to pick the most annoying form of human existence.
    Now that he was faced with the responsibility of taking care of an infant, Neku had no choice but to deal with it. He hardly knew where to start. Joshua looked so fragile and tiny; it was hard to believe that this was the same person that he partnered with. Out of curiosity, Neku stuck his fingers into the bassinet so that he could compare their hand sizes.
    To his surprise, Joshua grabbed his pinky in a tight grasp, and bright, glittering light flashed into existence. Neku shut his eyes to keep from going blind. He felt a distant heartbeat outside of his own slowing in tandem with his, and the strong sense that a promise had just been made.
    When it was over, he snapped his eyes open. “A pact? Did you just make a pact with me?” he demanded of the infant. “Why did you do that?”
    The front door opened at that point, and Neku’s mother strolled in with fresh groceries from the supermarket. She took off her shoes at the entrance and placed the grocery bags on the sofa. “What do you have there, Neku?” she asked upon noticing the bassinet.
    Neku suddenly went stiff. How was a Family Time pin going to help Joshua fly under the radar? What if they had to activate it somehow? Neku scrambled to think of excuses to explain why there was a baby in the house. “Uhm,” was all that he managed to say. So much for thinking on his toes.
    Neku’s mother peered into the bassinet, and then she cooed and scooped Joshua into her arms. Neku looked at his mom in bewilderment as the woman hugged and kissed the infant.
    “My baby boy! How is my Yoshiya today? I bet you must be hungry,” she said sweetly to the baby.
    Unreal, thought Neku. Not only was the Family Time pin activated passively, but it was powerful enough to imprint Joshua’s name on his mother. He had to hand it to Sanae, when he built something for the Composer, he did a damn good job.
    “Neku, will you be a dear and prepare some milk for your brother?” asked Neku’s mother.
    Brother?! Neku cringed at the mere thought of that. He hid his expression of dismay by leaning over the baby bag to search for some food. Within it, he found spare changes of clothing, a ton of diapers, some cans of condensed milk, bottles and binkies to suck on. As he rummaged around, his hand brushed something hard. He pulled out the object and found himself holding on to Joshua’s golden cell phone.
    He wondered why Sanae packed it inside of the baby bag. Maybe it was so that they could keep in contact? As Neku held it in his hands, he recognized it as an object of power. The cell phone felt alive, just as his pins did whenever he was using them. Curiosity made him flip the cover open, and he was greeted by a splash screen of the Scramble Crossing as seen from the rooftops.
    “Neku, the milk please,” reminded his mother.
    “Sorry mom,” said Neku. He tossed the phone back into the baby bag and rushed to the kitchen with the bottles of condensed milk. It galled him to think that he was still running around on Joshua’s behalf, even now.

------------------------------

    By the grace of the angels, Megumi Kitanaji was back in his original form, shades and all. He couldn’t remember what it was like to be separated from his will and reduced to Noise, and he was glad for that. His attempt at saving Shibuya from destruction had ended in failure and nearly cost him his existence. Thankfully, the Composer had a change of heart, and the Angels chose to interfere.
    Now he found himself in an entirely different situation. Megumi was seated on one of the white couches of the Dead God’s Pad, his posture relaxed despite the tense atmosphere. His game masters were also in the room. Yodai Higashizawa was dominating one of the love seats with his sheer size. Every now and then, the enormous man would reach for hors d’ oeuvres set out on the end table. Sitting opposite of Megumi on the second sofa was Mitsuki Konishi. She was doing her best to look composed, but the way that her legs kept shifting gave her away.
    Last, but certainly not least, was Sho Minamimoto. He did not get to sit on any couches. Instead, he was dangling from the ceiling inside of an ornate cage, one that was designed to keep the power of corrupt beings in check. Its silver bars were covered in sigils that restlessly flashed and moved in different directions. There was only just enough space inside of it to allow Sho to squat and scowl at the world outside.
    Not only did the cage prevent Sho from using any of his power, but it also silenced his voice. They were spared the litany of algorithmic curses that were soundlessly pouring out of his mouth. It was crude to lock him up like an animal and take his voice away so that he became nothing more than decor, but there was nothing that could be done about it. It was the Composer’s power that held Sho in check, and although it was in bad taste, Megumi couldn’t help but smirk at Joshua’s grim humor.
    “Must we keep the chimp dangling over our heads as if this was the Edogawa Zoo?” said Mitsuki in a crisp tone of voice.
    “You don’t appreciate the Composer’s new decoration?” said Megumi. He raised a hand to his forehead in a mock gesture of embarrassment. “Oh dear. It was supposed to be live art. He called it, ‘Consequence of Betrayal.’ I was certain that you of all people would enjoy it.”
    Mitsuki grit her teeth. She knew that the only reason that she wasn’t dangling in a cage herself was because her power was no match for the Composer’s. Sho, on the other hand, had the potential to do some real damage thanks to the taboo sigils that were all over his body. “What exactly does the Composer plan to do with him?” she asked.
    “Remove all of those dangerous sigils from his body so that he descends,” answered Megumi. “Most likely he’ll also erase his memory. Our dear Minamimoto-san will be back to his usual, slightly less chaotic self in no time.”
    “Hmph,” grunted Yodai. “The Composer should clean the plate better and remove all that extra tartar sauce. He was a difficult man to work with even before he spiced himself up.”
    “It would be convenient if Minamimoto-san could fit into the fold better,” agreed Megumi. “However if we were all the same, then nothing would challenge us to change. We would all be static and boring.”
    “Spoken like a true lover of Shibuya,” praised Yodai. “The meal is bland without an exotic blend of flavors.”
    “If I may be so bold to ask, why has the process not yet begun?” asked Mitsuki. “He looks exactly the same as he did yesterday. Moreover, the force field looks as if it has grown significantly weaker.”
    There was a deeply disturbed look in Megumi’s eyes, but no one would know because of the dark shades that he always wore. He kept up his mask of nonchalance as he said, “Who knows. Perhaps the Composer requires the assistance of the Angels. Or perhaps he is toying with us.” He gave his comrades a sharp smile, as if he found the latter notion to be quite amusing.
    Mitsuki sat up straighter, her neatly manicured fingernails now digging into the cushion of the couch. “And what if he is toying with us? The Composer has become very unstable. His intensions were to destroy Shibuya, but at the final calculation he abandoned his stratagem. The integrity of this world falls apart if the Composer does not honor his wagers.”
    It was true. The Underground and the Reaper’s Game would be nothing more than chaos if the Composer didn’t keep his deals. The situation with Shibuya was the very first time that Joshua had ever reneged, and as a result, even the Angels had to become involved in order to restore balance to the Underground. Megumi understood the situation all too well. “Are you saying that the Composer should have destroyed Shibuya?” he questioned.
    “I’m saying that logically, if the Composer has become an unstable factor, then perhaps it is time that we replace him,” answered Mitsuki coolly.
    “Treacherous words,” said Yodai, completely aghast. “If the Composer were not bound by the rules of our world, he would have you erased.”
    “That’s exactly my point,” said Mitsuki. “If he has become unstable, he will not follow rules. He will do as he pleases and we will all be at his mercy. His movements will be random and unpredictable. We could all be erased for nothing.”
    Megumi suddenly broke into laughter, which earned him uneasy stares. “Is that really any different than how we usually exist? We have always been at his mercy.”
    “I think that you would make a better Composer, Kitaniji-sama,” said Mitsuki. She pushed up her glasses as she regarded the Conductor.
    Yodai looked at Megumi with interest, as if considering Mitsuki’s proposition.
    “You flatter me, Konishi-san,” said Megumi. The sharp smile was on his face again. “But I do believe that you are under a lot of stress. Take a vacation.”
    “A vacation, sir?” she said in disbelief.
    “A long, indefinite vacation,” added Megumi. “You will be contacted when you are needed.”
    Mitsuki swallowed down a gasp. She stiffly stood up from the sofa and bowed formally to Megumi. “I will await my orders sir,” she said, fighting to maintain her composure. Then she left the Dead God’s Pad at a brisk pace, while internally fuming.
    Yodai watched Mitsuki disappear through the invisible doorway, and then said, “Why not just outright demote her?”
    “That’s the Composer’s decision,” said Megumi. Unfortunately, for the last couple of days, he had received no orders from Joshua at all. Mitsuki wasn’t the only one who was becoming antsy because of that. “Since Konishi-san will be out of commission for a while, you will be taking over her duties. Please make a complete list of all available Reapers, I want to know exactly how many were resurrected.”
    “Sir! I will do that right away,” said Yodai. He stood up, his large body practically taking up all the space between the couch and the end table, and bowed to Megumi. Then he walked off in the same direction that Mitsuki had gone.
    Alone, Megumi stood up from the couch and brushed imaginary dust and wrinkles from his evening jacket. He turned to face the cage dangling from the ceiling, and as he craned his head, his long black hair drifted past his shoulders. “It looks like you and I are the only ones that know the truth,” he said to the captive.
    Sho wrapped his hands around the bars of his cage and tried to shake himself free. The force field responded by magnifying in brightness. Before, it used to zap Sho back into submission, but now he was able to maintain his grasp without punishment.
    “The Composer’s powers are weak,” said Megumi. “A condition that can only happen if his base vibe has been significantly lowered. He may not even be in the Underground anymore. We’ve been abandoned, Minamimoto-san.”
    Megumi turned his back to the cage and reached into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone. It was flipped open, and he selected a number from his contact list. As the line rang, he pressed the phone to his ear. Once the other party answered, he smiled.
    “Hello. I have a job for you. Top secret,” he said into the receiver.

------------------------------

    Neku managed to ease his way back into his mother’s favor by doing extra chores in the house. It helped that Joshua put her in such a good mood. The fact that she kept fawning over him made Neku a little jealous. He couldn’t help but wonder if this is what it would be like if he really did have a little brother.
     Eventually, his mom had mercy on him and revoked his grounding. He was allowed to leave the house on the condition that he bought some extra supplies for Joshua. Great, baby shopping, he thought sarcastically to himself. As if he knew the first thing about what to buy for an infant. Neku left the baby bag in his room and lugged the blue bassinet out of the house. First things first, he had to find his friends and tell them what was going on. There was no way that he was going to be able to handle this on his own.
    He made his way to the meeting spot at Hachiko. When he arrived at the statue, he found the place alive with music pounding from a portable stereo. Students who were still in their uniforms were hanging out, some gossiping, others street dancing to the beats coming from the radio. One of them called out, “Hey Phones!” and it took several moments for Neku to realize that this person was actually Beat.
    His friend was dressed in St. Michael’s brown blazer and slacks, which completely threw Neku off guard. Beat was the very last person he would ever expect to be enrolled in a school for some of the most rich and intelligent kids in Shibuya. “You’re in St. Michael’s?” he said incredulously.
    Beat touched the back of his head sheepishly. He’d done his best to personalize his uniform as much as he could. The brown blazer was worn open, and the collared shirt beneath it was untucked and wrinkled. His tie was tossed over one of his shoulders, and instead of loafers he wore a pair of white sneakers. Without his beanie, his blonde hair fell in choppy layers over his head. “Yeah, my mom and dad be trippin putting me in this school.”
    “Beat is actually very intelligent,” piped in Rhyme. She was hidden among a crowd of students her own age, but upon seeing Neku she detached herself from them to join her friend and her brother. She was dressed in a brown St. Ursula uniform, which was no surprise. Unlike her brother, her outfit was primly pressed and appropriate. Instead of a beanie, she wore a blue ribbon in her blonde hair. “He just never applies himself.”
    Beat and intelligence did not belong in the same sentence. Neku couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
    “Yah well,” began Beat. Before he could finish what he was going to say, he noticed that Neku was carrying around a bassinet. He leaned over to peer inside of it and broke into a grin upon seeing the infant. “Hey, who be the little man?”
    Neku raised a hand with a start when Beat lifted Joshua out of the carriage and hoisted him high. “Wait, that’s –“ he said in an attempt to stop him; too little, too late.
    Joshua let out a peal of joy when Beat lifted him in the air. His little arms automatically went up as if he was attempting to fly.
    “Yus like that right?” said Beat playfully. He began swooping Joshua through the air while mimicking the sounds of an airplane. “Why ain’t you tell us you had a little bro?”
    “I don’t!” said Neku. He was about to have a heart attack, he thought that Beat was going to drop Joshua to the ground at any second. “Don’t do that, he might get hurt!”
    “Awww little man ain’t gonna be hurt, I used t’ do this to Rhyme all the time,” said Beat as he gleefully continued to make Joshua laugh.
    “Lemme hold him!” squealed Rhyme. She tugged on her brother’s slacks to try to get him to pass Joshua to her. “Neku’s brother is so cute!”
    “That’s not my brother!” repeated Neku. “That’s Joshua!”
    “Eh?” said Beat. He knelt down so that he could pass Joshua to his little sister, who was more than happy to take the baby into her arms. “You mean you be ‘sitting a nephew or somethin’?”
    “No, he’s Joshua, the Composer!” said Neku. Why was this so difficult to convey to his friends? “I can’t explain it, but he’s turned into a baby.”
    “Don’t you think that’s a bit mean to say about your brother, Neku?” said Rhyme. She then turned to the baby that she had cradled in her arms and cooed, “Don’t worry Yoshi-chan, Neku isn’t really as mean as he sounds.”
    The fact that Rhyme just said Joshua’s name finally made things click in Neku’s head. “That’s it,” he said out loud. Neku leaned down and undid the Family Time pin from Joshua’s shirt.
    Instantly, there was a change in Beat and Rhyme’s faces. Their looks of recognition vanished, and they both leaned in to stare at Joshua’s face as if he was an alien. “Who is this kid?” asked Beat cluelessly. “Why you carrying him ‘round, Phones?”
    Neku took in a deep breath. Maybe now they would believe what he was saying. “Mr. H. came to me this morning. He said that Joshua did something he shouldn’t have, and now he’s stuck like this.   He wanted me to take care of him for a while.”
    “Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh?!” said Beat incredulously. “Yus gotta take care of the Composer?!”
    “Isn’t that kind of dangerous, Neku?” asked Rhyme worriedly.
    “It could be. I don’t know,” said Neku truthfully. He had no idea what kind of mess he was stuck in now.
    “Well don’t yus worry Phones, we got ya back,” said Beat, raising a fist in solidarity.
    Rhymes nodded her head in agreement, before turning her head to stare at the baby in her arms. She couldn’t believe that she was holding such a powerful being right at this very moment.
    “Thanks guys,” said Neku gratefully. Things didn’t seem so bad with Beat and Rhyme behind him.
    Just then, Neku felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and found himself face to face with Shiki and…. Shiki. One appeared as the familiar pink-haired girl that he partnered with in the game, and the other was the ordinary brunette that was the real Shiki.
    “Neku, I want you to meet Eiri,” said Shiki with a smile. “She’s my best friend. Eiri, this is who I was talking about, Sakuraba, Neku. Behind him is Bito, Beat and Bito, Rhyme.”
    “Yus can just call us Beat n Rhyme,” said Beat to Eiri with a grin. Rhyme smiled to indicate that this was alright with her as well.
    “Nice to meet you,” said Eiri confidently. She was wearing an oversized white sweater with a pleated navy skirt, whereas Shiki wore a grey vest and white blouse combo with her own navy skirt. Neku recognized the Shibuya Junior High School uniform immediately, because that was the school that he went to. He probably passed by Shiki and Eiri hundreds of times every day, never once caring to so much as look at them.
    “Nice to meet you,” echoed Neku with a small smile. Beat and Rhyme likewise said their greetings, all of them feeling just a tad awkward at the fact that they felt as if they knew Eiri because of her appearance, but in reality didn’t know anything about her at all.
    “I can see why you talk about Sakuraba-kun so much,” said Eiri to Shiki with a grin. “He is really cute!”
    “Ah…” began Neku. He felt a blush appear on his cheeks. The only person that ever called him cute was his mom. Did Shiki really talk about him that much?
    “Eiri!” said Shiki in a pleading tone of voice. Her own cheeks were coloring pink. “You’re embarrassing Neku.”
    “Wow, even on a first name basis?” continued Eiri with a smile. “When did you get to know such a hot guy, Shiki? You’re holding out on me!”
    Shiki shared a look with Neku, and then the both of them quickly looked away. There was no way that they could explain to Eiri the circumstances of their meeting. “We ah.. we met playing Tin Pin!” said Shiki.
    “Tin Pin?” said Neku and Eiri simultaneously. Neku realized that he just incriminated Shiki’s lie, so he quickly backtracked. “I mean yeah, we met over Tin Pin.” Neku mentally cringed. Of all things, Shiki had to say Tin Pin! It was so embarrassing.
    Eiri looked put off by that information. Tin Pin was such a little kid’s game. Still, she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so she said, “Wow, guess I need to play Tin Pin more often,” even though she’d never be caught dead with a pin in her hands.
    A babble caught the girls’ attention, and they looked over at Rhyme and her bundle of Joshua. Eiri walked over with a grin and reached out to tickle Joshua’s cheek. “And who does this sweet little guy belong to?” she asked.
    Shiki gave the baby an odd look. In the time that she had gotten to know her friends, not once was a baby ever mentioned. “A relative?” she mused out loud.
     “He’s…” began Rhyme. She pursed her lips momentarily. Rhyme wasn’t a very good liar. “….Neku’s brother.”
     “Really? They don’t look anything alike at all,” said Eiri. “Is this really your brother, Sakuraba-kun?”
    Neku made a strangled errr sound in the back of his throat. He walked over to the infant and clipped the Family Time pin back onto his t-shirt. Immediately, Eiri’s face changed to understanding, as did Shiki’s. “Yeah, he’s my little brother,” said Neku lamely.
     “He’s adorable!” crowed Eiri. “Look Shiki, he’s wearing the latest Pegasus baby boy collection. He’s a trend-setter in diapers!”
     “Neku, why didn’t you tell me that you had a brother?” asked Shiki in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that Neku would leave out something like this from her.
    Neku could feel a headache coming on. Later on, he would have to explain the whole situation to Shiki when Eiri wasn’t within earshot. At least Beat and Rhyme were already in the know. Even though Joshua was wearing the pin now, their attitudes towards him had not changed. “Slipped my mind,” he said dryly. “Anyway, I’m supposed to go shopping for him –“
    No sooner did those words come out of Neku’s mouth that he was suddenly ambushed by Shiki and Eiri. There was this unholy gleam in their eyes, and it caused Neku to feel sweat prickling at the base of his neck.
     “Did you say shopping?” said Shiki with barely restrained excitement.
     “To 10-4!” shouted Eiri. She grabbed Neku’s arm and Shiki grabbed the other, and then they bodily dragged him down the street. “Can I just call you Neku? I feel weird being the only one that can’t use your first name.”
     “Yeah, whatever,” answered Neku as he struggled to get out of the girls’ grasp.
     “Bring the baby!” Shiki shouted over her shoulder to Beat and Rhyme.
    The Bito siblings stared at the girls and the newly kidnapped Neku.
     “Them bitches crazy, yo,” said Beat finally.
     “Uuuuh huh,” agreed Rhyme.
     “Bah,” babbled Joshua.

------------------------------

    Mitsuki crept into The Dead God’s Pad alone. According to her calculations, Megumi should be holding his daily meeting with the reapers. Yodai was probably taking care of all of her paperwork, which meant that he would likewise be indisposed for the moment.
    Her high heels clipped against the glass floor with every step that she took. The fish that swam in the water below scattered from the sound of her footsteps. She continued to walk until she was standing before the glittering cage that was hanging from the roof.
     “Looks like you’ve made a gross error in your analysis, Minamimoto-san,” she said to the man trapped above her. “Your bid for Composer did not go as planned. However, just because you lost the battle, doesn’t mean that the war is over. I find Kitaniji-sama to be too sympathetic to be a general. In times like these, a heavy hand is required to bring order to the chaos. Now, shall we rid ourselves of this hideous bird cage?”
    A wicked grin curled Mitsuki’s lips as she reached one of her hands up. The temperature of the room dropped as she activated one of her psyches. Sho’s cage rattled, and then it was instantly engulfed in shards of ice that erupted from the floor beneath it. A few moments passed as the frozen cage simply vibrated, and then the ice shattered, destroying the sigils and metal bars. Sho dropped to the ground in a crouch.
     “As I thought,” said Mitsuki with a self-satisfied smile. “The Composer’s power is so piteous; even I can destroy his barriers. The numbers are in my favor today.”
    Sho raised himself from the ground and thrust his hands out. He threw his head back and began to laugh manically – but no sound came out. When he realized this, he held his hands over his throat in disbelief.
     “Looks like there is one missing factor,” mused Mitsuki. Despite the cage’s destruction, Minamimoto’s voice had not returned. She could only guess that the Composer still had enough power to silence Sho. “Well, no matter. Your mouth was never your strong point anyway. What is important is that you can still command the Taboo Noise.”
    Sho held out his hand as if it was a piece of paper and frantically made a scribbling motion against it. Mitsuki understood the gesture, and she walked over to the bar to grab a napkin. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a pen, so she gave Sho a tube of pink lipstick to write with.
    The fallen game master snatched the napkin and used his teeth to rip off the top of the lipstick. He clutched the lid in his mouth as he wrote on the soft sheet with large, splotchy letters. When he was done, the message was presented to Mitsuki.
    I know who the Composer is.

------------------------------

    Beat was loitering in front of the 10-4 Building with Joshua cradled in one of his arms. Department stores weren’t really his style, and Shiki and Eiri were making the whole ordeal really unbearable. Not only were they shopping for Joshua, but they took it upon themselves to wrestle Neku into every trendy outfit that they could find. To escape that kind of humiliation, Beat said something about taking the baby out for air, and then he stepped outside.
   He really did enjoy holding Joshua, however. It reminded Beat of when his precious sister was born. She had been so tiny and frail, just like the Composer’s current state. Beat’s parents were always ridiculously busy, so he had been her primary caregiver. He bottle-fed her, he helped her learn how to stand, and he taught her how to count to ten. The first time she said his name, he had been so excited. Now he was reliving those moments simply by holding on to Joshua.
     “Ain’t it funny how time be flying, and everythin’ changes,” he said to Joshua.
     “Oh hell nah, is that who I think it is?”
    At the sound of voices, Beat looked up. There were two guys dressed from head to toe in Wild Boar, sitting on bicycles. He recognized them; they were people that he knew from the skate park. “Ya’ll got somethin’ yus wanna say?” he retorted back to them.
     “Beat, why you wearing that uniform and carrying around a fucking baby?” asked one of the boys. “You got some girl knocked up?”
     “It ain’t mine,” he said, raising a fist at the simple fact that they even assumed such a thing. “Why is you botherin’ me? This ain’t the usual sellin’ grounds.”
     “We came to give you a message,” said the second boy. They were now circling their bikes around Beat, both of them leering dangerously. “You can’t be leavin’ the family just like that. That ain’t how it works bro. Once you in, you in fo’ life.”
     “Boss man said I could leave,” said Beat to the boys. “Ya’ll trippin. What, yus gonna miss me that much?”
     “Just sayin’, you better watch your back,” warned one of the boys with a smile. “Accidents happen, bitch.”
     “Fuckin’ sellout,” added his companion. They stopped circling their bikes and began heading off down the street.
     “Fuck both of ya’ll, yus can’t do shit,” said Beat angrily.
    Joshua raised one of his tiny hands upwards. Unknown to Beat, there was a small, brief glow at one of his fingertips.
    Suddenly, the retreating boys yelled out. Their bikes randomly pitched forwards, sending them crashing to the ground. The crowd parted so that nobody walked all over them; some of the pedestrians began openly laughing at the calamity.
     “AAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH,” laughed Beat at the top of his lungs. He held his head as he practically bowled over with mirth. “That’s what yus get!”
    Neku came out of the 10-4 Building in a rush. He ran to the front exit because all of a sudden, he could swear that he felt a psych activate. It was a distant feeling that he got whenever he was partnered, and the first thing that jumped into his mind was Joshua.
    Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be anything amiss. Beat was laughing at something, and Joshua looked as innocent as a baby. He walked to his friend’s side and asked in an unsettled voice, “Did…something weird just happen?”
     “Nah, we cool,” answered Beat. He chose not to tell Neku about the personal problem that he was having with the local street gang. “Ya’ll done in there yet?”
    Shiki, Eiri and Rhyme piled out of the store carrying bags at that point. Shiki gave Neku a reproachful pout as she said, “Neku, you should have said so if you wanted to leave, you didn’t have to run.”
     “It was the only way I could escape,” said Neku without remorse.
     “Oh shush,” said Eiri. “Now let’s get rid of that out of style bassinet and put THIS on.”
    Neku was handed a very simple baby backpack that could have passed for an ordinary bookbag. It was navy blue with two white wings decorating the front lapels. Neku was thankful that he was finally going to be able to get rid of that stupid, frilly blue bassinet. His arms hurt just thinking about carrying that thing again.
    Joshua was strapped into the new carrier and Neku slid it over his shoulders. “You better not drool on my neck,” he warned the baby. He could feel Joshua relaxing against his back and turning his cheek to place his small head against his shoulder. When he was sure that the baby was secure, Neku looked back at his friends and saw that the girls were giving him this goofy look. “What?” he said to them.
     “So…so cute,” said Shiki with a big smile on her face.
     “Rrrrrrgh!” ground out Neku.
    They hung out for a bit longer, but eventually Neku had to go home. Even though his mother had lifted her punishment, it didn’t mean that he was completely in her good graces yet. Since he knew better than to push his luck, he decided to turn in early.
    Shiki walked him home this time. Eiri waved goodbye and winked as if there was more to their walk than meets the eye, much to Neku’s chagrin. It couldn’t be helped, however. Their relationship was special because of the circumstances of their meeting, and other people couldn’t help but notice that.
    Neku took this opportunity to tell Shiki all about Sanae and the truth behind Joshua. She couldn’t believe it when Neku removed the Family Time pin and suddenly she couldn’t recognize the baby. Apparently, once the truth of the pin was revealed, it never worked the same again. When the pin was returned to Joshua’s shirt, Shiki couldn’t see him as Neku’s brother anymore.
    Taking care of the Composer while he was in his current form was an odd predicament to be in, but there was nothing that they could do about it. They could only wait for Sanae’s return and pray that the Family Time pin would prevent Joshua from being discovered.
     “You were really easy going with Eiri today,” said Shiki, now changing the topic. “Way different than when we first met. You even let her call you by your first name.”
     “Yeah,” said Neku. He did, didn’t he. In the past, he would have found a girl like Eiri annoying and pushed her away. He turned a grin over at Shiki. “You jealous?”
     “Of course not!” said Shiki with a huff. Then after a moment, she added, “Well, maybe a little.”
    Neku smiled at Shiki’s admission. In the past, she would have never admitted that she was jealous about anything. It made him feel proud to see her so open about these things now. “Don’t worry, you’re still my number one friend.”
     “Heh heh,” giggled Shiki. They finally arrived at Neku’s home, and she looked past the gated entrance curiously. “You have a nice house, Neku.”
     “I’ll invite you in when my mom isn’t on the warpath anymore,” promised Neku.
     “Okay,” said Shiki with a smile. Then she leaned over and dropped a kiss on Joshua’s head. “You be good Jo-chan. We’ll take care of you.”
     “Jo-chan?” repeated Neku incredulously. He couldn’t help his own pang of jealousy at the way that Shiki fawned over the baby.
     “Don’t be jealous Neku,” teased Shiki. She gave her friend one last wave, and then headed down the road back to her own home.
    Neku took off his shoes at the entrance of the house and shouted “I’m home.” His mother answered “Welcome back” from the living room area. Neku carried the bags of shopping to the kitchen and put all the perishable baby products into the refrigerator. Then he turned the baby backpack that he was wearing backwards so that he could cradle Joshua from in front of him.
     “Now what?’ he said to the infant. Neku didn’t know what to do next. There wasn’t a baby room in the house or even a bed to lay the child in. How was the Family Time pin going to fix that?
    Joshua gazed up at Neku with his lilac colored eyes. They still had that almost lazy, lidded look to them that the Composer had as a teenager. He seemed to be looking at Neku expectantly as well, as if trying to gauge his next move.
     “I wish I knew what you were thinking,” said Neku in a murmur.
    Suddenly, Neku flinched. The sound of static washed out his hearing and glaring light flashed before his eyes. “What the hell!” he cried as he clutched his head and shut his eyes tightly.
    When his vision cleared a few moments later, he immediately knew that something was wrong. The house was quiet. Deathly quiet. Moments ago, the television was on and he could hear the puttering of his mother in the living room. Now there was only silence. The hum of the refrigerator was gone and the sound of traffic driving past the window was non-existent. It was so quiet that the sound of a pin drop would have thundered through the home.
     “What’s going on?” he said, instantly on his guard. Neku began creeping through the house, his hands automatically circling around Joshua. “Mom?” he called loudly. The boy entered the living room, but there was no one there. It was like all of humanity suddenly vanished.
    Another wash of static had Neku clutching his head. No, anything but this, he mentally wailed. There was only one explanation as to why his house had suddenly gone quiet. He was in another zone. And that noise, that horrible fucking noise, only meant ONE thing.
    A growl made Neku snap his head up. Everything that he feared was happening was suddenly real and in his face. A grey creature was levitating its way into the living room. It had a sinewy, snake-like body with small wings and a dragon’s face. At its full length, it took up nearly all the space in the room. Death Metal Mink, Neku’s mind supplied in a panic. Taboo Noise! But why? I’m not in the game. I’m not even dead anymore.

    The Noise opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth. It howled loudly, and its breath caused a gale of wind that knocked Neku off his feet and sent him flying. His back hit the wall with a loud thump, and he cried out as the breath was knocked out of him.
     “Shit!” he yelled, cringing in pain. Neku peeled himself off the wall and dived into the nearby hallway, running in the direction of his room. The Noise followed, its body slinking in the air like a stalking rattlesnake. It knocked over lampshades and left gouges in the wall as it struggled to fit in the small space of the home.
    Neku threw open the door to his room and dived inside, too fast for the Noise to take a chunk out of him with its teeth. It overshot the doorway with a howl of frustration and crashed into a window at the end of the hallway. While it struggled to turn around and correct its course, Neku threw open his bureau drawer and grabbed a handful of pins. Last night, he had dumped his entire collection in there, thinking that he would never have to use them again.
    He knew as soon as he touched them that they weren’t going to work. The pins felt dead in his hands. They had didn’t have that feeling of readiness that vibrated up from the metal whenever he handled them. Just to be sure, he held up a pin and pointed it at the doorway. Nothing happened.
     “Why aren’t they working?!” he yelled in panic. Neku backed away as the Noise found its way to the doorway of his room. It stuck its massive head inside and bellowed out another gale of air. Once again, Neku was knocked off his feet. This time, he twisted his body into a ball to protect Joshua as he was dragged across the floor. Loose papers and clothing got kicked up in the wind, and all the pencil bins and knick knacks on his shelves went tumbling down in a loud clatter. He expected to eventually hit the hard wall of his room, but instead he got crushed against something soft.
    It was the baby bag that Sanae had left him with. Neku was suddenly struck with realization. The pins had no power, but earlier he was able to feel the power in Joshua’s phone. Neku got to his feet and grabbed the baby bag. Then he threw open the window to his room and jumped outside. He only had a moment to dive to the ground before another burst of wind shattered the window pane to pieces.
    Neku ducked and covered Joshua’s body as a hail of glass fell all over them. When the worst of it passed, he ripped open the baby bag with shaking hands and rummaged for the gold cell phone. The Noise butted its head through the remnants of the window frame, and with a loud groan, the remaining wood splintered and gave away as the creature forced its way outside.
    Finally, Neku had Joshua’s cell phone in hand. He pulled it out of the baby bag and backed away from the window. The phone was flipped open just as the Noise began inhaling deeply in preparation to let lose another wall of wind. Neku held Joshua in a fierce grip, prepared to protect him. How was he even supposed to use the stupid phone!?
    Neku hit the first button that he saw.
    SNAP.
    There was a flash of light, and suddenly the Noise was gone from Neku’s view. He blinked in disbelief, and then he heard a long howl. Neku wheeled around and saw that the Noise was now behind him and bellowing out air into an empty street. I get it! thought Neku jubilantly. He recognized this psyche. Neku pointed the phone at the Noise and snapped another picture. Instantly, the Noise was teleported directly opposite to where it was originally. It began to twist in confusion.
     “How do you like me now!” Neku shouted at the creature. He quickly ran though Joshua’s menu until he found the entertainment section. What was that stupid game the Composer was always playing?
    The creature was gaining its bearings. Instead of blowing Neku away, it had decided that it was just going to maul him. With a flick of its tail, it began to levitate to where Neku was standing with Joshua, teeth bared.
    High-Low! Neku remembered. He selected the card game, and then began hitting all the buttons that he could.
    Beep. Beep. Beep!
    A fountain of light erupted from the sky. It beamed down on the Noise just as it was about to snap at Neku’s head, accompanied by what appeared to be several angelic figures with wings. Neku covered his eyes with the phone as the beam erupted into a flare. When the light vanished, the Noise was gone and Neku was alone with Joshua.
     “Hah! That was nothing!” he shouted at the empty space. The backwash of power was making him feel light-headed and headstrong, as it always did. In the next few moments, the euphoric feeling was gone and he sighed in relief. Then he looked down at Joshua. “Did you get hurt?” he asked the infant.
    To his surprise, Joshua began to cry. Bewildered, Neku checked the baby over for any indication that he was injured. He didn’t find any cuts or bruises, but the child wouldn’t stop wailing. Neku hugged Joshua close and tried to comfort him as best as he could.
     “Hey, don’t cry. I’m here to protect you okay?” he said in the gentlest voice he could muster.
    Neku pressed his mouth to the top of Joshua’s head, and strangely enough, that seemed to quiet the baby down. The whispery hair that was against his lips felt as soft as down, and the skin was warm and fragile. A feeling of protectiveness welled up in the boy.
   What am I doing, he thought to himself. Why am I…
    Why was he feeling like he really wanted to do this? Despite all that Joshua put him through, here in this very moment, he wanted to protect him.
    Even if it came with a steep cost.

   To Be Continued.
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