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New Grounds	By : Xenos_Helia Category: +S through Z > World Ends With You, The (Subarashiki Kono Sekai) > World Ends With You, The (Subarashiki Kono Sekai) Views: 1635 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I have no ownership of The World Ends with You or the characters therein. It all belongs to SquareEnix and I make no money from the fiction I write.

Chapter List
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CHAPTER THREE:
Then I remember waking up on Josh’s bed. I felt different. I felt...long. I sat up on the deep purple, satin bedding and lifted a hand to my forehead. I groaned and noticed that my voice sounded a little odd. Opening my eyes I looked down at myself, I was still in the kimono, but it seemed to fall on my body differently. I stood and realised for the first time that I seemed taller. My kimono really did sit differently. As I looked down at myself I noticed a glimpse of orange around my elbow and instantly ran my hand through my, suddenly extremely long, hair. “What the hell?!” My voice seemed a little deeper and I rushed to a nearby mirror, grabbing the back of the chair in front of Josh’s dresser and looking at my reflection. My eyes were block purple, but I could still see some deeper swirling in them, so who knew if it was the permanent colour they’d be from now on. And my hair really was long, and dead straight. I was toned and my face a little more rigid, the angles of my cheekbones a little more fierce than they had used to be. So...this was me now? This was how my soul required me to be? In all honesty...I quite liked it. Except my hair would take some getting used to, it felt a little weird...But otherwise I felt amazing, I could even feel all the power my soul contained running through my blood. I felt like I could do anything. But right now, I couldn’t worry about that. I undid and re-dressed myself in my kimono; tying it differently so that it would be long enough and be tied tightly enough. I also looked through josh’s draws and on his dressing tables and the like trying to find a hair-tie, it took a while but I managed to find one and tie my hair back in a messy (but elegant) pony-tail that reached down my back. Taking a deep breath I went to the door, I wanted a drink and I wanted to see Josh.
Turning the handle I stepped out and made my way to the Dead God’s Pad; stepping in to find only Kariya and Mr H. The other reapers must have been off doing something important.
“Oh,” Mr H looked up eyes wide, “Well now...I don’t think I’ve ever seen a transformation quite this drastic. Not even Josh’s, he was pretty well unchanged after. You look good Phones.”
“Thank you.” I walked over behind the bar, well aware that Kariya’s jaw had dropped and that he was staring at me. I grabbed two cans of soda before heading off to the room of reckoning, adamantly ignoring the way Kariya was staring.
I hesitated for a moment before the door, taking a deep breath before entering without knocking. Josh was languidly sitting across his throne, head resting on one arm and his legs dangling over the other, and had a book in hand. He didn’t look up as I entered, he could probably feel that it was me, but he didn’t acknowledge me either so I walked to him in silence, hearing the large doors quietly thud closed behind me.
I made my way to stand behind his head, holding his can of soda in such a way that it would interrupt his line of sight. He tilted his head to read around the drink as he reached up to take hold of the cold can, but I couldn’t help but notice that his fingers lingered gently on my hand. But I couldn’t tell if it were intentional or not. He knew how I’d felt, he’d seen the pictures. It hurt a little to think that maybe he would manipulate my emotions now that I was a part of his life indefinitely, and I couldn’t trust him not to. But even so, I liked the way his touch felt. He took the can and finished his paragraph before allowing himself to look at me.
He leant his head backwards, taking in my appearance, and his jaw dropped.
“…Neku?”
“Who else, Josh?”
“My god, you’re beautiful.” I blushed and looked away quickly, but out the corner of my eye I could still see him staring. There was no smirk. It was as though he were taken completely aback by how I looked.
“The hair will take some getting used to…It’s pretty long…” He brought himself to sit up, his eyes still locked on me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. He reached out and pulled me closer, I didn’t object, and he ran his fingers through my pony-tail and smiled.
“I like it.” I tried to pull away, feeling a little uncomfortable, but he grabbed my obi before I could move too far. “What’s wrong Neku?”
“Nothing, I feel amazing. Not contained like I did before but free and powerful. I’m great.”
“But you want to run away from me?” He looked concerned. He felt concerned. I could feel that he felt concerned. It was weird and I couldn’t tell the difference between his concern and my own uneasiness.
“I’m overwhelmed, and confused. Everything seems amplified.”
“How so?”
“I feel uneasy, and you feel concerned, I can feel that too. But I can’t quite tell the difference between them. And you barely touched me just now, but I reacted differently to I ever would have before.” He raised an eyebrow at me. He still had hold of my obi but I felt his grip loosen. He put his can of soda on the floor before taking mine from be and doing the same, careful not to touch my skin. But then, he took my hand in his and held it. Not tightly, but not so gently that I could pull away either. I tried for a moment but his grip on my obi tightened and he held me still. Not threateningly, but firmly. And he kept his gaze on my eyes, not wavering for an instant. I felt secure in his gaze, and also uneasy.
“What’re you doing, Josh?”
“I want to know if you can tell the difference. What am I feeling, from touching you like this?” I tried to pull away again but started to calm, feeling the gentle caress on his thumb against the back of my hand.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Concentrate, you can tell if you don’t fight it. Be calm.” I could feel that he had let go of my obi and was gently rubbing my back through the kimono instead. I calmed under his caresses and concentrated like he said. “What am I feeling Neku?”
I could feel some things before than others. There was pain. That was the discomfort. It was an ache in my heart and it was strong. I knew part of it was because I wanted him, part of it had been there for a long time. The rest I wasn’t sure about. But once I recognised the ache I could recognise other things, he felt warm. I could hear his breath, the rhythm of his breathing a little harder than usual, and I could feel his heartbeat even though I was only touching his hand. His pulse was rapid. Then I realised, part of the ache was his. He was hurting. Because he cared, because he felt guilty. He was hurting, but I couldn’t tell exactly what kind of hurt it was. Wasn’t a despairing pain? It felt so similar to my yearning for him but it was a little different. I couldn’t tell.
“You’re hurting.” Our eyes met for the first time since I entered as I explained, “I can’t tell whether it’s that you’re truly hurting, because it’s so similar to the hurt I feel myself. But you care, your heart is racing, your breathing slighter harder because you see me and you care. And for some reason that hurts you.” He smiled, but his eyes looked sad and he nodded.
“That sounds about right…why are you hurting?” His question wasn’t exactly unexpected but it still made me blush and I looked away again. I saw him nod in my periphery, “Ah. It’s because you love me, even though I killed you. Twice.” I glared at him harshly
“No one has said that I feel that way Josh, especially not me.”
“Then tell me you don’t.” He was calm, gentle as always and his placid eyes met my angry ones and I tried to form the words but they wouldn’t come out. Even if I knew how I felt, and knew that he knew, I didn’t want him to say it so casually.
“Don’t trivialise whatever it is I do feel. Don’t say it so offhandedly. Don’t be so casual about it and make what I feel meaningless.”
“So that is how you feel?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Tell me either way, so that I know what to not trivialise.” He was patient and it annoyed me. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. There was no point lying anymore, especially not to myself or to him.
“I love you, Josh. I love you and I hate myself for it.” I glared again as he stood up, without saying anything, and moved close to me. I almost wanted to move away but instead stood firm as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close to him, my chin resting on his shoulders as I felt him almost nuzzle his head into the crook of my neck. I tried hard to breathe normally, but it was difficult, and I lost the battle to not hug him back. My arms wrapped around his waist and we stayed there in silence for a moment.
I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but my mind was racing around topics like how nice it felt to have him in my arms and how well we fitted together in this embrace. I could tell what he was feeling though. His pain had lessened but I could feel more sadness coming from him.
He pulled back and held my face in his hands, his thumbs caressing my cheeks as he stood lost in thought for a moment before moving close and gently kissing my lips. It was too much. It was almost as though my body burned with all the pain, sadness and hidden desire I was feeling. Was it just me feeling it all? I didn’t know. But it felt good and I would gladly endure all of Hell’s fire if it meant an eternity of even a small, innocent kiss from him like this one. But he pulled back and the wave inside me ebbed. I opened my eyes to catch him looking sad.
“Neku…” He tilted my head forward and rested his forehead against mine, “Please don’t hate yourself. Hate me for hurting you the way I did if you must, but don’t hate yourself. You’re too precious to be eaten away by your own hate.” He made to pull away but I held his hips tighter, and I could feel the longing in my eyes as they implored him not to break away. He smiled, but only a little, and put his hands on mine – trying to pry them off of his hips. “Not now, Neku. It wouldn’t be right. You need to learn who you are and how you relate to the world now. I can’t be selfish. I can’t take advantage of you.”
I let him go. But I was getting more and more confused by the moment. He was being selfish by kissing me? He found me precious? It didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I was suddenly wondering if the pain I felt from him, was actually the same ache as I had for him.
**
Weeks passed and there had been no more physical contact with Josh and he seemed suddenly very adamant that we not spend time alone together as much as possible. It had been helpful and I had quickly learned how to handle some of my new power. I still seemed to be getting more and more strength by the day but at least now I could tell what was real and what wasn’t. I had learned that I can feel what others feel, not just Josh but everyone. And in some cases I could read thoughts as well. I now understood my own standing well enough to tell what was my own and what wasn’t and I was starting to learn what different people felt like. Kariya’s feelings felt different to me than Tenho’s for example. But all Tenho’s emotions were clearly his even though anger and happiness are so different. I was getting a pretty good handle on things.
I’d heard from Shiki and Beat too. They’d written me a letter and included some photos. They were having exams and so didn’t have much time to make an appearance. But they missed me. I wrote back and sent some photos of my own so they could see my transformation. I wonder what they’ll think? I also asked Shiki to design me some new clothes to my measurements. I had a few jackets and stuff from her before but obviously they were now too small.
Life seemed pretty good again. I was sleeping, I was alert and everything was coherent and I wasn’t in pain. But I needed to confront Josh. Really, what I needed was to know where Josh and I stood. That kiss had been playing on my mind and I wanted to know what I meant to him. Most of all I wanted to kiss him more. As well as other things.
A game was in progress when I decided that I would finally approach him (I had won the bet by the way). All the other reapers were in the field, Mr H was in his shop, I was loitering around mustering up the courage to approach Josh and Josh was, as usual, sitting on his throne. I walked into the large room and he was just sitting there, chin resting on his hand, supported by the arm of his throne, lost in thought.
“I’ve been trying to think up an excuse to come and harass you.” He said absently as I approached casually.
“Now when you say ‘harass’…?” I left the question unfinished and he chuckled.
“You’re much more like your old self now, Neku.” He smiled at me, moving so that it was his head cradled in his hand, not just his chin. I loved the way his hair fell over his face. I loved his hair in general. So fair, so fine…I just wanted to run my fingers through it. As well as other things.
“Yes I am. And since I’m so much myself now, I think we should talk. Or something.” I sat comfortably on the floor in front of him, it had become my unofficial spot when I would visit him. I wasn’t yet comfortable using my throne. It didn’t seem appropriate.
“Now when you say ‘or something’….” He left the question unfinished and we sat there smiling at each other in quiet for a short while. “So, what shall we talk about?”
“You know exactly what we should talk about.”
“You want to know why I kissed you that day.” It wasn’t a question, but I nodded all the same. He blew a stray stand of hair away from his eyes as he thought about how to word the next sentence. “Because I love you as well, and couldn’t resist the temptation.” I smiled. It felt nice to hear that. And I could feel that he was being honest.
“And the reason you haven’t been alone in a room with me since til now?”
“Because now that I’ve kissed you once, I want to each time I see you.” His eyes didn’t move from mine and it almost felt like his gaze was piercing my soul.
“I’ve been wanting that.”
“I know. But I couldn’t do that to you. It wouldn’t be right for me to be selfish.”
“How would it be selfish if it’s what I want too?”
“You were finding your feet. I’d have been taking advantage of you while you were unstable.” I raised an eyebrow. He had been afraid of taking advantage of me? Knowing full well how I felt? I was confused and he could see it, so he elaborated, “Once you settled…maybe your feelings would have changed. Maybe you’d have grown resentful. Maybe you’d have hated me. I didn’t want to take advantage of your feelings when I didn’t know if they would stick around after everything was calm inside you. And, I didn’t want to break my own heart by giving myself to you only to have you hate me later for taking advantage after I had already killed you twice.”
I didn’t know how to respond so I looked down and thought for a few minutes.
“I still love you Josh. I loved you before I knew you killed me.” I leant back, supporting my weight on my arms and looked up into the abyss above. The ceiling was never visible. “I hated that I loved you despite it. Thought myself stupid for it. But I loved you anyway. I still love you now, and I wanted so many times over the past few weeks to sneak into your room at night and try to coax some attention out of you. But you’ve been trying so hard to keep me at a distance that I figured there was a good reason.”
“What do you want to happen between us, Neku?” He was putting my needs first. Which must have been odd for a Composer. But it felt nice for him to be so sensitive to me. A wash of mental images came to mind of many things I wanted to happen between us, none of them wholesome, but I knew that he wanted a serious answer.
“I want us to be what we’re pretending to be, with no make-believe involved.”
“You want us to be lovers?”
“To put it one way, yes.”
“To put it another?”
“I just want to be yours. However you will have me.” I could tell that the meaning I was trying to convey wasn’t the first thing that statement put into his head given the blush that came to his cheeks. I smiled and stood before walking towards him. I stopped fairly close to his throne but knelt before closing the gap. He didn’t move, his head still in his hand. I mimicked the pose, my head on my hand only a short few inches from his face. My other hand made its way to his knee. He was wearing jeans today. I gently caressed his leg without breaking his gaze.
“Neku, we –“
“I know, we shouldn’t.” My hand moved further up his leg and he closed his eyes, struggling to keep himself in check. His free hand moved to the hand touching his leg and grabbed my wrist firmly.
“Neku…” I stopped moving my hand and he opened his eyes, “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“Why?” I pulled my head off my hand, using it to stroke the arm supporting his head, my captured hand still wasn’t moving, but my fingers caressed him through his jeans.
“Because...” He hesitated, looking me in the eyes, “I don’t have a good reason.”
“So give me a stupid one.”
“I don’t want to get hurt if we start a relationship. And I won’t be physical with you, without that relationship. No matter how desperately I want you.” My heart leapt. Here I was hoping for, at minimum, a physical relationship because I didn’t think he would let me have a real one. My hand moved from his leg to his hip, gripping him tightly, as the other swatted his supporting arm out of the way to hold his face and bring it close to mine and I kissed him. Passionately. It took him by surprise and as he made to protest my tongue found entrance to his mouth. He relaxed under my touch and a moan escaped him as my tongue caressed his. His hands rested against me, one on my shoulder, the other on the arm that threatened to pull his body closer. Our kiss continued, deeper but less frenzied. I was trying to maintain control instead of losing it. I didn’t want to pressure him into anything. Though I’m sure he felt the same towards me.
I eventually pulled back and our eyes opened. I moved back to sit on my heels and put some space between us, not wanting to be forceful. But he seemed to have other ideas. He straightened in his throne before moving forward off the ledge; a leg on either side of my knees. He held himself above my lap and placed his hands on my shoulders before leaning in to kiss me gently again. It was soft, no tongue, and it lingered before it moved. The corner of my mouth, my jawline, my earlobe. Which he nibbled softly and I gasped.
All I could feel was him. One hand gripping my shoulder and the other moved down my buttoned shirt. His lips and tongue were on my neck now, kissing and lapping at my skin. I moaned lightly, eyes closed and reached up to place a hand on his hip, supporting my position on one straining arm. I felt him move back and opened my eyes, he smiled lightly when our eyes met and I felt my shirt come loose at the bottom-most button and then his gentle fingers were on my stomach, caressing gently.
I felt his fingers tense slightly and a glare came to his face. At first I wondered what I had done to upset him and then I felt it too, we had a visitor. Matching his glare he looked over my head to the creaking door, I let my head fall back, to look to the door upside down. Uzuki and the other girl reaper walked in thoughtlessly and upon seeing us didn’t know where to look. Blushing crimson Uzuki looked to the floor as the other turned her back on us entirely, looking back out the door.
“Is there something you need?” Josh asked, his voice more stinging than I had ever heard it.
“U-um…W-well…actually…”
“Get to the point, Reaper, I don’t have much patience for you right now.” My glare softened and I flipped my head forward again to look at Josh, seeing him as Composer for the first time. So powerful and so domineering. I licked my lips, secretly wanting him to dominate me like that, but also wanting to bring him to his knees the way no Composer should be.
“D-During the game w-we ran into, um,” Uzuki cleared her throat, trying to regain composure and failing, “We ran into Keiichi Satoru…” Josh’s whole demeanour changed. His eyes widened and I felt a brief pang of fear come from him. He looked down to me, worry in his eyes, before moving his hand from my stomach to my face. Then he kissed me. Deeply. Uncaring that the girls were there, even though I heard Uzuki make some weird squeaking noise. He pulled back too quickly for my liking and then stood, extending his hand to help me up, which I took. Looked like play-time was over for now. Disappointing.
“So,” Josh struggled to take his eyes off me, even though he was talking to the girls, “Where is Keiichi now?”
“Waiting in the Dead God’s Pad….”
“Get him a drink, whatever he likes, I’ll be with him in a few minutes.” The two girls bowed before leaving. I had this weird feeling inside. Who was this Keiichi person? Why was Josh so concerned about him being nearby? I squeezed the Composer’s hand, as I still held it and he knew my question before I asked.
“He’s a Clef. You’ve figured out by now I’m sure that all the key players in The Game are given a musical rank? Composer, Conductor, all that stuff. Well…the Clefs are…special. They’re not quite up there with the angels and demons but…they’ve been around longer than a lot of them.”
“I don’t understand, why is he so important?”
“…The Clefs are the founders of the game.” I froze. He squeezed my hand and let go, heading to the door. “I think, Neku…maybe you should chill out in your room for a few hours. This meeting is going to take a while…” He looked over his shoulder nearing the door, “I think it’s going to be about you.”
“About me?” I suddenly felt afraid. Did this person have the power to undo all the help Josh had given me? Ruin my life just as I was getting it back? Did he have the power to fix what had gone wrong in the first place? Could he send me back to the normal life that I had before? My mind was racing and reeling and then only one thought filled me, the feeling of Josh’s kiss. I didn’t want to go back. I liked feeling powerful, I liked being near him, close to him. Even if my love for him would eventually break him, I wanted to explore it first.
I nodded and walked towards the door. We walked through together and Josh greeted a rather average man in a white suit who nodded politely before looking to me and raising an eyebrow. I looked to Josh, who didn’t meet my gaze, before bowing to them both in the traditional way I had grown up with before exiting the room and walking down the hall towards my room.
Uzuki and the blonde girl were waiting near the end of the hall, right next to my room. I guess they’d realised this is where I would be. They both stared at me, eyebrows raised.
“Can I help you?”
“Why are you here, Neku?” It was the blonde girl that spoke, apparently the only one who felt the need to call me by my actual name other than Josh and Kariya, “We thought it was just for the Composer’s help but…” she trailed off and looked to Uzuki for help.
“That wasn’t looking for help, that was looking to get in his pants.” Blonde girl went bright red again and I raised an eyebrow at Uzuki before smirking.
“Funny, from that perspective I would have thought that would’ve looked like him trying to get into mine.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Uzuki snapped and got right up into my face, glaring her best foul-lipped look, “why are you here?”
“As if any relationship between Josh and I is your business,” I turned on the blonde girl, “And I don’t even know who you are so why would I tell you anything?” I turned and grabbed the door handle to my room when her small accented voice piped up again.
“Sara…” She reminded me and I turned, she was looking at the floor, “My name is Sara. But everyone calls me mouse because I’m small.” I opened the door, ignoring her, and walked in slamming the door behind me. I was glad to finally have had her introduce herself to me but at the moment I didn’t really care. I decided to draw. Picking up a drawing pad and pencil from the dresser I moved to the bed, sat down and began to draw, losing myself in the movement of the pencil and the feeling of release the action of drawing gave me. I wonder what I would create this time?
It didn’t feel like long before I heard the distant sound of my door opening, but I knew it must have been hours. My pencil was still on the paper, sheets of images discarded around me as I’d drawn. It was Josh’s voice that managed to bring me out of the consumption that was my creativity.
“Neku, can you hear me?” He’d tried to get my attention while drawing before but it hadn’t worked, but I could hear him this time and I managed to pull my face away from my point of concentration to look at him. He smiled. I smiled and when he spoke again I could hear his voice much closer than even a moment ago, but I could still feel my hand scribbling away mindlessly at the page. “Neku, Keiichi wants to talk to you. He wants to ask you some questions and maybe give you some tests.” He looked around at all the pages and smiled again, “I think you should bring all your drawings and sketchbooks too. They might help.” I nodded, feeling back with the real world now as my hand stopped drawing.
“Okay. Why does he want to talk to me at all though?”
“He’s curious about your situation. I think he might try and take you to Osaka to where all the Clef work. They study and design and all kinds of things and I think they’re very interested in your capabilities.” He saw the worry on my face and moved closer to move some stray hair from my face gently, “Don’t worry, Neku,” he put his hand on my shoulder, “I won’t let them take you to Osaka. I won’t let them take you away from me. Okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded and started to gather my drawings without even noticing what they were of. I’d been learning over time that it was best to look at my drawings much later after drawing them. That way I didn’t get so worked up about them. Collecting my other sketchbooks I looked to Josh who was holding the door open for me, nodding I walked towards him and he led me into the Dead God’s Pad.
The man in the white suit sat in a comfortable armchair which had been moved to face one of the couches. I took this as a queue to sit on the couch and place my sketchbooks on the coffee table between us. I noticed that most of the Reapers were back, and so was Mr H, and they were all hanging around near the bar watching intently. Joshua made his way to the bar and started to fuss behind it.
“So, you must be Neku?” The man held out his hand to me and I shook it with a nod. His voice was arrogant and made my skin crawl. Much like Shades’ had done. “My name is Keiichi, I’m a Clef. I helped to found the game and am now working on its betterment with the other Clefs in Osaka. Which, incidentally, as a piece of general knowledge is where the first games were held.”
“My name’s Neku, clearly you already know that,” it seemed as though I should introduce myself, “I grew up in a Shrine, went to school and was generally pretty normal. But people annoy me most of the time, the game helped me look at people for who they were and not just the stupid things I would usually see.” I heard Josh chuckle as he placed a tall glass of Iced Green Tea with Apple on the coffee table in front of me.
“You still don’t like people much, do you Neku?” He smirked at me and I raised an eyebrow in return.
“I like some people.” Keiichi looked at us over the top of his glasses with interest and made a note in a small notebook I hadn’t noticed until now.
“Okay, so Joshua has explained to me the…bizarre effect the game has had on you and I’m curious as to why you came to him for help. Why not another Composer? Why not an Angel? After all, it is my understanding that you are quite well acquainted with Hanekoma.”
“I did go to Mr H for help. Kind of.” I took a sip of my green tea before continuing, “I asked him to help me find Josh. When I turned up he knew something was wrong and when I said I needed to see Josh and he understood what was going on he sent me straight here. True it’s where I’d asked to go, but he didn’t butt in and say ‘hey, I can help’ or anything. At the time Josh and I weren’t exactly on good terms. Mr H knew that, and I don’t think he would have helped me get here if this wasn’t where I needed to be to get help.”
“But why this Composer? Why not another one? As you said, you weren’t on good terms.”
“For a start, I didn’t know any other Composers existed.” My eyes narrowed, I didn’t like this line of questioning. What was he hoping to gain from these questions? “And besides, despite all that’s happened, I still trusted Josh.”
“You trusted him?”
“Yes.”
“Even though he killed you? Twice I might add.”
“I trust Josh completely,” I smirked and looked to the Composer behind the bar, “Unless of course he has a gun to my head.” Josh chuckled slightly at my remark but the other Reapers looked uneasy. Hadn’t they known that I had been Josh’s proxy? Or that he had shot me a second time at the end of my game? Maybe not…The only one that didn’t seem surprised by this development was Kariya, but he was never really bothered by anything. Sara shifted uncomfortably though, as if she were tempted to leave the room.
“I see.” He made another note, “And how many games did you take part in?”
“Three.” There was a murmur from Sara to Uzuki who nodded and whispered something back. Sara didn’t look too comfortable at this point. “My first partner was Shiki, the second was Josh even though he was an illegal player, and my third week was with Beat who had become a Reaper but shed his wings as it were to help me through the game.”
“I see…and you never worried about the effect this would have on you?” He was scribbling away absently, his gaze not leaving my face.
“I never thought about it. All I cared about was winning.”
“Don’t you think it was irresponsible of Josh to put you through all this for his own amusement?”
“Excuse me?” Josh piped up from his place at the bar, glaring coldly, “I would never put a player through that, none of it was my doing at all, thank you very much.” I raised an eyebrow at the man sitting in front of me in echo to Josh’s sentiments.
“Regardless of who put me through what, I don’t think they thought this would happen to me. The same as I didn’t. I mean really, nothing like this has happened before right? Why would anyone think it would happen? And really, a soul changes after exposure to The Game, right? So how does anyone know that the same damn thing wouldn’t have happened even after just one game?” I took another sip of my cool drink as I noticed the pointed air of silence in the room. I could feel Josh staring at me, Keiichi had stopped scribbling and everyone else just looked awkward. “And besides,” I added quietly with a small smile on my face, “In my own way, I’m glad things happened the way they did.” I looked right at Josh, a sincere smile on my face as I spoke my next honest words, “I am a far better person now than when Josh chose me to be his proxy. I have friends, I have purpose, I have confidence,” I glared at Keiichi as if daring him to challenge, “and I’ve found love in a way I never expected to. Without that ordeal I would still be the worthless husk I had been before the game. I’m thankful for how things have turned out. I wasn’t at the time but now I couldn’t ask for more.” I looked back to Josh in time to see an almost sheepish smile on his face.
Keiichi made more notes. “Speaking of love…” I felt my chest harden, knowing this would be the hard part. It was ridiculous that I was so worried about it. I knew my feelings for Josh. He seemed to reciprocate. Why should it matter? Why should I be so worried? “Did you fall in love with Josh during the game, post game, or after you came to him for help?”
“That’s a very personal question. I don’t see how it’s relevant.”
“To us it is.”
“During the game. Though I was very conflicted about it. And it was before I found out the truth about him, and how I came to be in the game to begin with. Which was crushing in its own way. My feelings grew stronger post-game, and ever stronger now.” I indicated to the sketchbooks, inviting him to look in them, “When I was absent from myself, that’s how I describe it anyway, sometimes my…intentions for Josh would take over my subconscious and force itself out in my artwork. Feel free to look if you like. But I warn you some of it’s quite…explicit.”
He pulled the sketchbooks towards him and poured over all of them, scrutinising every image, not even reacting or blushing to the images my mind had conjured of myself and Josh lost in the throes of passion.
“I see.” He looked to Josh with an accusatory look, “Was this your doing? Did you do something to him? Destiny Ribbon? Something else?” I blinked and so did Josh, I looked to him and he looked thoroughly baffled,
“Uh…what?” He looked confused then angry, “I don’t know about you Keiichi, but as a mere human turned composer I have never been taught how to make things like destiny ribbon or other devises that lonely angels and clefs use to lure the every day people into their beds.” He glared daggers at Keiichi who glared back.
“Hanekoma never leant a hand in that way of his?”
“Only for pins and artwork. Oh, and he regularly brings me coffee of course.” That chuckle of his turned up and my tension eased.
“Then I guess the pair of you are legitimately smitten,” He spat the words out as though they tasted sour, “But this,” he indicated to me like some object or toy, “may become a problem and I really do want him to go back to Osaka with me for…testing.”
“I’m fine here thanks.” I stood from my seat and began gathering the notebooks, “you’ve already interrupted my ‘alone time’ with Josh once too many times for my liking, so I’m not going anywhere with you.” I flicked my orange bangs from my face, and turned back towards my room, sketchbooks safely tucked under my arm. I’d had enough of that greasy man and wanted well rid of him.
“Wait!” I heard him stand and stopped near the entrance to the hall, looking back at him over my shoulder, “You will go back with me Neku. Or at least part of you will. If you won’t come I’ll need some of your blood and I’ll be taking some of your drawings too. Especially the ones of noise you have designed.”
“The kid’s been designing noise?!?!?!” Uzuki’s shock was evident in her exclamation and she looked to Josh who nodded solemnly.
“Yes, but before you get your panties in a twist about how anti-game he is, you should know he does it subconsciously. He has no knowledge of it at the time.”
I glared at Uzuki before turning fully and approaching Keiichi shoving all my loose drawings and sketchbooks at him, causing him to fumble to take hold of them all.
“Take them all if it’ll make you happy. How much blood do you need?” I held out my arm to him. He looked surprised at my co-operation but really I just didn’t want him bothering me again.
“Three vials.” He turned to Mr H, “Hanekoma, if you would be so kind. My hands are unexpectedly full.” Mr H approached me and picked up Keiichi’s briefcase, opening it on the coffee table. I was surprised to see that there were no documents in there. Just large glass containers and needles and other sharp implements. I could even see a scalpel in there. It was unsettling and I suddenly felt sick. There was no way I was ever going to Osaka to the Clefs. Never ever.
Mr H approached me, needle in hand, “Want a seat phones? Not gonna faint on me are you?” he winked and I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Just get it over with, you can make it up to me later with coffee.”
“Yes sir.”
“Bring one for Josh too. Otherwise I’ll get in trouble.” I grinned he chuckled and then there was a sharp pain in my arm. I looked to see my blood filling the vial. Only that couldn’t have been my blood. It was purple. “What in the living hell?!?!?” Mr H pulled out the needle and I grabbed my arm and stepped back. Panic stricken. No one else had seen but Josh rushed over to Mr H who showed him the half full container. The composer, the angel, the clef. They all stared at me and my breath was becoming erratic. I was freaking out. I pulled my hand from where the needle had pierced my skin. What should have been a red trickle of blood making its way down my forearm was bright purple. How my eyes had been.
“Neku…” Josh’s worried voice sounded distant through my hyperventilation and as he stepped towards me the world went dark once more.
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New Grounds