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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
- 4
- 5
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. Very slight crossover with Kingdom Hearts.
Special Note: This will be a very long, multi-chaptered fic. I hate when I get sucked into these! Also, I have been straying from my original outline as I have been inspired. Therefore I have added a new slight crossover warning.
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. All characters from Kingdom Hearts belong to Tetsuya Nomura and Square-Enix. No profits are made from this fic.

Frequency

-Chapter Five-

    Neku slowly opened his eyes. Sunlight was filtering in through the wet windowpanes and birds were chirping in the distance. It was going to be a beautiful Saturday. He closed his eyes once more, wanting to sleep in a bit longer, but the light beckoned to him. In the end, he gave in to wakefulness with a sigh.

    He felt Joshua’s body wedged against his. Neku looked down at the child-like Composer, who had spent the entire night hugged up against him with a peaceful look on his face. Leaving the bed was likely to wake him up, but Neku was willing to risk it. Sleeping on the same mattress as the Composer felt very awkward, so he wanted to exit that situation as soon as possible.

    The boy slowly inched away from the other’s body, careful not to disturb the child as he pulled his limbs away and rolled to the opposite side of the bed. Neku pushed up into a sitting position and dangled his legs over the edge of the bed. He looked over his shoulder at Joshua to confirm that the Composer was still asleep, and then he turned his gaze to the nightstand. He reached for the Player Pin that he had removed the night before and held it in the palm of his hand.

    I shouldn’t have taken this off, he thought to himself. It was really risky. But I.. I just wanted to comfort him with my thoughts. I’m such an idiot. I keep forgetting that he’s not really a kid. He doesn’t need comfort.

    The pin was affixed the pin to the lapel of Neku’s pajamas. Even though it was early in the morning, he didn’t want to risk the chances of a Reaper reading his mind.

    At one point though, he must have been a little like this. Same as everyone else.

    Neku began to stand up from the bed, but he was stilled by a tug at his pajamas. He turned and found that Joshua was clinging to his shirt. The child let go upon getting Neku’s attention and rubbed his eyes.

    “Neku,” said Joshua sleepily.

    The utterance of his name made Neku’s eyes widen with shock. He immediately turned around to fully face the Composer. “You can talk!” he said excitedly. “It’s about time. What happened to you, Joshua?”

    “Neku.. niichan, (1)” murmured Joshua. He locked eyes with the older boy and said tiredly, “Bathroom.”

    Neku stared at Joshua for several moments, and then he sighed in exacerbation. Even though the Composer was saying words now, apparently he still had the mind of a child. “Yeah yeah, bathroom. Come on, Poop King.”

    Joshua was picked up from the bed and carried over to the restroom, where he was allowed to do his business. Neku waited outside of the door with his arms folded across his chest. He kept telling himself that he had to look at the bright side of things. Even though the Composer still acted like a two year old, the fact that he was talking was a good thing, right?

    When Joshua finished using the toilet and exited the bathroom door, Neku eyed him with a squint. After a few moments, he took the child’s hand and led him back to his room. He lined up the Composer against the wall and fetched a magic marker from his desk. A black line was etched directly above the child’s head, and then Neku hmmed over it with hand over his chin. There was a second line about an inch below the one that he just made, which had been scribbled in about a week ago.

    “You grew about 0.02 meters,” Neku mused. “That took like a week. When I met you, you were what, 1.7 meters. So if it takes you a week to grow that much, then that means..” (2) As Neku calculated the answer, he ticked off the numbers with his hand. The answer that he came up with made his head hang with disappointment. “A little more than 21 months.”

    Joshua tilted his head at Neku, and then he reached up to tug insistently at the boy’s shirt. Upon getting his attention, he led the way to the living room. Curious, Neku followed Joshua until they were both in front of the television set.

    “You want to watch cartoons?” asked Neku blandly.

    Joshua stood up on his tiptoes to turn on the television, and the first thing that popped up onscreen was a newscast. The local television station was reporting on the grand opening of a fair at Yoyogi Park, where food, music and various forms of entertainment was going to be taking place. Neku was only mildly interested until he heard something that perked his attention like a dog responding to a soundless whistle.

    “… And the young in-the-know crowd will be surprised to know that Dragon Ash will be playing live at today’s venue. This punk rock – hip hop sensation will be sure to draw an enormous crowd, so you should either come quickly to get close to the stage or avoid the 8pm crowd…” reported the news anchor.

    Dragon Ash? Dragon Ash? Dragon Ash was playing at Yoyogi Park? DRAGON ASH. Neku felt like he was about to explode from the inside out. Dragon Ash was one of his favorite groups. He listened to their tracks almost nonstop when he first got his wireless headphones. In an instant, Neku ran from the living room and made a beeline straight for the kitchen. He used his socks to skid to a stop in front of the doorway and grasped the frame to keep from falling flat on his face.

    “MOM!” he called loudly and desperately.

    Neku’s mother looked up from her place at the sink. Her husband was at the table with a cup of coffee in front of him and the newspaper, which he lowered to peer at his son.

    “I want to go to Yoyogi Park,” said Neku without preamble. “There’s going to be a concert there. I will do anything for an allowance. Please make me your slave!”

    Neku’s mother burst out laughing, and his father shook his head. “Really Neku,” said the older man, “You get so lost in your music that sometimes I wonder if you’re still in this world.”

    “Please?” said Neku plaintively. He was ready to go down on his hands and knees if he had to.

    Joshua chose that moment to squeeze his way past Neku and walk towards his parents. He totted over to where Neku’s father was seated and placed his hands on the man’s lap. A simple “Dragon Ash” was said in his young voice.

    “Look at you young man. Every time that I see you, I can’t believe how much time has gone by,” said Neku’s father cheerfully. He patted Joshua’s head affectionately and exchanged a meaningful look with his wife.

    Neku watched this interaction with a bit of trepidation. Ever since Joshua became a part of their family again, his parents were different. They were a lot happier than they usually were. He knew the reason why: His mother was only ever able to bear one child. Something happened after he was born that made her unable to carry a baby to term ever again.

    His parents tried to hide it from him, but he knew what it meant whenever his mom looked longingly at children’s clothing, or when his dad sighed over the empty guestroom. They wanted more children. As he was growing up, it really affected him. It made him feel as if he wasn’t good enough for them. So he shut them out to protect himself from the hurt.

    Now, he learned to open his heart a little and try to understand them. He couldn’t selfishly think that everything was about him. They must have had their reasons for wanting another child. That’s what he wanted to believe anyway. Now that Joshua was here and filling that void, he could see that they were very happy, and strangely enough, instead of ignoring Neku like he thought they would, they paid more attention to him. He received more affection from them now than before the Composer came into their home.

    So what was going to happen when Joshua left?

    “You can go to the park Neku,” said his mother, “but you have to do your chores first. And you’re taking Yoshiya.”

    “Why do I have to take him?” groused Neku.

    “He’s your cute little brother. You have to set a good example,” explained his mom.

    “He adores you, he’ll just cry if you leave him behind,” added his father good-naturedly.

    Joshua returned to Neku’s side and attached himself to one of his would-be brother’s legs. He said a happy “Neku nii-chan!” as he nuzzled the sweatpants that the other wore.

    “Friggin’ amoeba,” muttered Neku as he tried to shake Joshua off his leg.

    Neku finished his chores in record time and called up all of his friends. Usually, when a venue came to Shibuya he would just go off and listen to the music on his own, but now he had an actual group of people to share the experience with. Such a simple thing felt as amazing to him as it did to hear some of his favorite music live. He couldn’t believe that he thought that he could live without this before.

    Once he threw some decent clothes on Joshua, he took the child by the hand and practically dragged him out of the house. Everyone was going to meet at the Station Underpass so that they could take the train together to Yoyogi Park. Upon arriving at the meeting spot, he was glad to see that everyone was already there, but not so glad to see Eiri.

    Apparently, Shiki had invited her to come as well. After the fiasco at the movie theatre, Neku couldn’t help but feel awkward around her now. Still, he tried to play it off and offered a nonchalant “Yo,” once he met up with the others.

    “Neku!” called Eiri loudly. She was dressed to kill in a short white summer dress with ruffles and pink flower print. Next to her, Shiki looked very plain in a pair of jean capris and brown t-shirt that she cinched to her waist with a thick black belt. As always, Mr. Mew was clutched in her arms. “Are you the one that turned poor Yoshiya into a Jupiter of the Monkey billboard?”

    Neku looked down at Joshua so that he could register what Eiri was complaining about. In his haste to get the kid dressed, he tossed on a pair of loose blue shorts with checkered stripes down the sides and a white tank top with a logo that said “J of the M.” He didn’t even bother to try to tame Joshua’s curly hair; he just pulled on a blue headband over the child’s forehead in an effort to make the chaos of the ashen strands look intentional.

    In reality, he had little choice in what to dress Joshua with. They were Neku’s old clothes from when he was little. “You got something against Jupiter?” he challenged Eiri.

    “No, it’s just that, heh heh,” giggled Eiri. “You guys are dressed alike now!”

    “What’s wrong with that?” said Neku cluelessly.

    “Who cares yo,” said Beat with boredom. He was glad that Neku was here now, because the girls were driving him crazy with their gossip over fashion. “Little man looks chillin, now let’s hit up the El and get da heck outta dodge.”

    No one protested to that. They paid for their tickets and loaded up onto the train, which was beyond packed due to the amount of people who were heading to Yoyogi Park. On their way there, Beat talked about the good old days when Dragon Ash did mostly punk music and hoped that they would reprise some of their old songs, which led to a discussion with Neku over which was better: old Dragon Ash or new Dragon Ash.

    Meanwhile, Shiki and Eiri were scoping out what people were wearing and commenting on the fashion, as always. Rhyme was out of the loop with the conversations that were going on around her. The only fashion she wore was Wild Boar like her brother, and this was her first time listening to Dragon Ash. Instead of listening or chiming in, she looked out of the windows of the train.

    It was an incredibly sunny day, which promised a wonderful time at the park. Rhyme covered her eyes against the beams that filtered down around her. Beside her, Joshua was unperturbed by the bright light, and he was smiling softly.

    “Joshua, you look like you’re getting bigger,” she commented.

    “A three year old child’s spirit is unchangeable until he is a hundred,” answered Joshua in a quiet, childish voice.

  Rhyme gasped and covered her mouth. She didn’t expect the Composer to suddenly talk, proverb or not. Immediately, she tried to get her brother’s attention by calling out to him. “Beat! Beat!”

    Beat waved his sister off because he was too busy arguing with Neku over Dragon Ash. This caused Rhyme to puff out her cheeks, and then she bit out a loud “Daisukenojo!”

    The utterance of his real name made Beat lean over and cover Rhyme’s mouth. “What’s your problem!” he squawked. “Don’t holla that name out loud!” Beside him, Neku was snickering, much to his chagrin.

    Rhyme peeled her brother’s hand off her mouth and said, “Its Joshua, he’s talking now!”

    “Oh, that’s old news,” said Neku. “Today he called me niichan.”

    “But he—“ protested Rhyme.

    “HAHAHAHAH NIICHAN,” interrupted Beat with uproarious laughter. “That’s so homo, yo!”

    “How in the hell is that homo?” said Neku incredulously. “He’s three years old, of course he says niichan!”

    “But he ain’t really your little bro!”

    “Oh come on,” groused Neku. “Your sister calls you niichan too!”

    “But she be my real sister, that shit is different!” retorted Beat.

    The boys got into yet another argument, which left Rhyme completely ignored. She huffed and folded her arms across her chest. A frown was turned to Joshua’s direction. “Why are you hiding that you can talk?” she asked the Composer.

    In answer, Joshua only giggled.

    They unloaded off the train when they arrived at the right station. All 134 acres of Yoyogi Park stretched out before them in lush fields of green grass, perfectly manicured trees, glittering lakes and towering fountains. There were several stands selling everything from crafts, dresses, chocolate covered bananas, crepes, and roasted corn with soy sauce, in addition to games where they could try their luck at winning plushies or live fish to take home.

    The crowd was very thick, and they found themselves huddling together to keep from getting jostled. Shiki had to lean in close to Neku, especially when she showed him pictures of Dragon Ash that she had downloaded on her phone. Their fingers touched as Neku steadied the phone in her hands and scrolled through the snapshots with a big grin.

    While they were locked together like this, Joshua tugged on Neku’s hand to pull him away in a different direction towards the stands. “Bear,” he said plaintively as he pointed at the rows of stuffed animals waiting to be won.

    “Alright alright, I’ll get you a toy,” said Neku, finally breaking away from Shiki. The girl only smiled as she watched her friend walk off to win a plushie for Joshua.

    “I’m still kind of mad that he rejected me,” said Eiri once Neku was out of earshot. “He’s such a great guy. He acts all tough, but then he does such sweet things for his little brother.”

    “Hmmm,” murmured Shiki. She remembered Neku’s face at the end of the first week that they spent together during the Reaper’s Game. There were so many ugly sides to him, but the last face that he made as she began to fade away had been so soft, honest and beautiful. Shiki wondered if Joshua was seeing a lot of that face now.

    “Hello, earth to Shiki,” said Eiri. She waved a hand in front of her girlfriend’s face. “Why are you spacing out?”

    “Ah, nothing!” said Shiki. Her cheeks flushed as she flailed her arms. “I was just thinking, it’s only natural to be nice to a kid. I think even the toughest guys show a different face. Look at Beat, for example.”

    The two of them looked over at Beat, who was wowing a crowd of girls by playing one of those strength games that required him to hammer a platform to ricochet a piece metal several feet into the air to hit a bell. He was making a killing with his skill, and every time he won a plushie, he handed it over to one of the gathered women and smiled like an idiot. His little sister already had an armful of five teddy bears.

    “If only he wasn’t such a meathead,” lamented Eiri. Then she broke into a grin and ran over to where Beat was. “Hey, win one for me too!” she called over to him.

    Shiki could only shake her head.

    By the time they were done hitting the stands, they were stuck with armfuls of prizes. Beat complained that he was hungry, so they began browsing around for something to eat. Joshua hung on to his newly acquired Badtz-Maru (3) black penguin in one arm and clung to Neku’s hand with the other. The older teenagers were too pre-occupied to notice that the child was looking over his shoulder frequently.

    Among the mass of people behind them, there was tall, well dressed man with black hair, shades over his eyes and a pair of headphones around his neck. When he caught Joshua’s gaze, he broke into a wide smile.

    Joshua continued to stare, and then he looked back up at Neku. Considering how distracted the older boy was, it was easy to quietly slip out of his grasp.

    Megumi sat down at a park bench and Joshua crawled onto the wood beside him. Amusement painted the Conductor’s face as he beheld the form that the Composer had taken, as well as his current selection of clothing. “So this is where you’ve been the entire time. It took a long time to find you. But I suppose that I have become an expert at searching for you ever since our little wager. Here.”

    The man offered a crepe filled with ice cream and strawberries to Joshua. The Composer took it without a word of thanks and quietly began nibbling on the treat.

    “It should have been obvious from the start that you would form a pact with your old proxy. He was the strongest that you could find after all,” continued Megumi. “But now that I have located you, I advise that you form a pact with me. It will accelerate the healing of your vibe.”

    Joshua didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. Megumi could read his silence as easily as words.

    “You refuse?” said Megumi with a touch of wonderment. “Is it because of the issue of trust between us? Or…”

    Joshua stopped eating the food that was given to him.

    Megumi narrowed his eyes at the child beside him. “You are sorely needed in the Underground. Minamimoto-san has escaped, and Taboo Noise have been unleashed. Reapers are being decimated left and right. But you already knew that, didn’t you.”

    There was still no verbal answer from Joshua. He merely looked straight ahead at the milling people.

    “I can see why this barely concerns you. You have the power to resurrect, after all. I envy you for having that ability, and I fear you, because at your whim you can choose death for us all,” said Megumi nonchalantly. “I want to trust you Joshua, but looking at you now, I can see plainly that you are unstable.”

    Joshua slipped down from the bench and leaned up on his top toes so that he could toss the remainder of the crepe into a nearby trashcan.

    “Since you won’t form a pact with me, you will remain in that useless state for a little while longer,” said Megumi with a sigh. “You are of no help to anyone in the Underground while your vibe is this damaged. Whatever answers that you seek in the Realground, I hope that you find them quickly. I’d rather not experience erasure, even if you regain the ability to bring us all back.”

    The Composer looked over his shoulder at Megumi. His violet colored eyes narrowed.

    “The only reason I don’t take this opportunity to crush you is because I believe in the Composer that spared Shibuya,” said Megumi. He straightened the lapels of his dress jacket as he stood up. “I wait for the day that I meet that refined Soul once more.”

    The man walked away, leaving Joshua among the crowd of people.

    It was several minutes later that Neku came tearing through the pathway with a worried look on his face, one that turned to anger when he spied the Composer standing alone. “Where have you been!” he yelled at the child. Neku held up the Badtz-Maru penguin and shook it. “I can’t believe you gave me the slip with this stupid thing!”

    As it turned out, Neku had been walking around with Badtz Maru dangling from his hand, which he assumed to be Joshua for almost an hour before Rhyme pointed out that the Composer was missing.

    “Anything could have happened to you,” said Neku in a tirade. “You could have been snatched up by some stranger, or worse, attacked by Noise. Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

    The child ducked his head and stared down at his shoes. After a few moments, Joshua murmured in a quiet, tear-filled voice, “Niichan, I’m sorry.”

    Neku was stunned by the apology. He didn’t actually expect a response like that, especially one that sounded so sad. It made him look away and rub the back of his head sheepishly. “Never mind, you’re okay and that’s all that matters. Come on.”

    The boy scooped up the Composer and hoisted him overhead so that he could sit on his shoulders. Neku held onto Joshua’s legs to keep him from falling and began walking through the crowd to meet up with his friends again. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

    “Hee hee,” giggled Joshua. He wrapped his hands together over Neku’s orange hair and nuzzled close. “Not hungry,” he affirmed happily.

    Megumi watched the scene from a distance. He was holding his chin thoughtfully, as if he was watching something that was very profound. Behind him, Kariya and Uzuki loitered nearby.

    “So?” questioned Kariya. “Do we keep up with the mission?”

    “Change of plans,” said Megumi. “I want you to guard over Kiryu, Yoshiya. Make sure that nothing happens to him.”

    “What?” said Uzuki with disbelief. “But he’s alive! What if he turns against us?”

    “All the more reason to show him that we are on his side,” said Megumi shrewdly. He pushed up the shades that he wore, further obscuring his eyes.

    “What exactly are we protecting him from?” asked Kariya suspiciously.

    “I have confirmed that he has immense psychic ability,” said Megumi. “As a result, he is sure to attract plenty of Taboo Noise.”

    “If that’s the case, he’ll attract Taboo Noise for the rest of his life,” said Kariya with a shrug. “What does it matter to us if he’s erased or not?”

    “Don’t worry, I don’t intend to have you watch over him until the day he passes,” said Megumi with amusement. “I simply wish to observe him for a while longer. Keep up the good work, you two.” With that, Megumi elevated his vibe and returned to the Underground.

    Uzuki grit her teeth. “Just great! We have to stick our necks out for that little brat just so the boss can get his kicks out of stalking little kids!”

    “I don’t think we’re hearing the whole truth, Uzuki,” said Kariya thoughtfully. “There’s more going on here than we know. Either way, orders are orders.”

    The crowd gathered in front of the stage for the upcoming concert. As the sun set over the horizon, the opening acts began to rile up the crowd with upbeat music. Infectious excitement had the circle of friends on pins and needles as they waited for the main act to arrive.

    Their patience was eventually rewarded. Dragon Ash took to the stage, and immediately the crowd surged with excitement. The band introduced themselves and said a few words to promote their upcoming album, and then they drove everyone wild when they announced that one lucky person was going to own their latest work before its release date three months from now.

    The lead singer held up the promised CD high over his head, and people screamed and raised their hands for it. Instead of throwing it, he broke into a fast, upbeat song and prowled the stage. Every now and then, he pretended to toss the gift, which caused the gathered people to surge and squeal with delight. Neku thought that his chances of getting his hands on that CD were close to nil, but he wanted it just as badly as everyone else around him. Even so, his pride kept him from throwing his hands up into the air, as well as the fact that he didn’t want to risk dropping Joshua off his shoulders.

    While Eiri and Rhyme were distracted, Beat wrapped his arms around Neku and Shiki and drew them into a close huddle. “Bend down and kiss my ass, cuz I just had a stroke a’ genius!” he shouted above the pounding bass and screaming voices.

    “What are you talking about?” Shiki yelled over the music.

    “The pins, yo!” said Beat excitedly. “We use the Player Pin to scan Dragon Ash, and then we hustle t’ where he throws the CD. We got the edge!”

    Shiki’s and Neku’s eyes widened at what Beat just said. “Scan Dragon Ash?” repeated Shiki with disbelief. Then she began to shake with pure, unadulterated excitement. “Oh my god, I’m going to read the minds of Dragon Ash! I’M SO EXCITED!”

    Neku wanted to kick himself. Without his headphones, it was likely that the scan function of the Player Pin wasn’t going to work. He really wanted that CD, and truth be told, just a mere glimpse into the minds of what those idols on stage were thinking in the middle of a concert excited him just as much as it did Shiki.

    “Alright, here goes nothin’!” said Beat as he grasped the Player Pin at his collar. With his skateboard strapped to his back, it was unlikely that his scan would fail.

    “Oh my god oh my god oh my god,” squealed Shiki as she hugged Mr. Mew to herself and began her scan. “He’s thinking of jumping into the crowd. I want to catch him!”

    “Hell yeah, he’s gonna play Fantasista! (4)” crowed Beat. “I can’t fuckin’ wait!!”

    With every word that his friends said, Neku felt more and more like he was going to explode. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. Headphones or no headphones, he was going to scan Dragon Ash, damn it! He slapped his hands over his ears in the same way he would have done if his headset was actually on, and concentrated on opening his senses.

    He could feel the Player Pin heating up, but the experience of scanning wasn’t the same as he remembered. Instead of hundreds of voices crowding into his mind, he felt emotions. The sheer force of the crowd’s excitement nearly split his head in two; he had to pull back on how open he was in the same way that he had to guard against too many people talking at once in his mind.

    Once he managed to get his sense of self back, he resumed his scan at a slower, more careful pace. A new feeling began to emerge from the background of pure euphoria that came from the people around him. As he honed in on it, his body shuddered.

    This is.. this is…

    Pure, overwhelming affection, and it was completely and solely directed towards him. The presence of it almost made him swoon in shock.

    Who is thinking of me like that?

    Neku whirled around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of this mystery person. Standing nearby was Eiri – could it be her? Maybe she was for real when she asked him out on a date. He thought on this for a few moments, and then rejected that theory. She had been imprinted, so there was no way that she could feel as genuine as the emotion that he detected.

    Then, could it be Shiki? Neku felt an unbidden rush of hope at that thought, which he quickly squashed down. Right now, Shiki was too busy fawning over Dragon Ash’s every thought to be focusing so intently on him. That left Rhyme, but she was so young, and the only person she’d idolize was her own brother.

    Neku was stumped. Was it a stranger in the crowd after all? Just some random girl crushing on him? As he ruminated over this, one of Joshua’s hands came to rest over his cheek. The boy tilted his head up and saw that the Composer was sleepily nuzzling against his orange hair.

    Joshua?

    No way. Joshua wouldn’t think of him like that. That was just weird; he would expect that kind of feeling to come from a girl, or at the very least, from someone like his mother or father.

    He has been calling me niichan.

    Still, saying the word “niichan” didn’t make it real. Neku wasn’t really Joshua’s brother, and sooner or later, the Composer would go back to normal and this ruse would be over. If he felt affection, it was because he had the mind of a child, which was only a temporary state. Neku was sure that he would be toyed with once Joshua got his mind back, and that’s if he wasn’t being led on already.

    Besides, he wasn’t 100% sure that the feeling really did come from the Composer. It could have originated from any of the people that were milling around him. The thought didn’t leave his mind, however, and he was left wondering if a real brother would have cared for him that way.

    In the end, although Shiki and Beat were able to read Dragon Ash’s mind, they weren’t strong enough to beat back the crowd and catch the CD. Someone else managed to get the gift first, much to their dismay. Despite that, the rest of the concert had been amazing, and by the time they rode the train home they were hoarse from screaming and near deaf from the noise.

    They parted ways at the Station Underpass and left to their respective homes. Neku ended up carrying Joshua in his arms since the Composer had fallen asleep on the train. His parents welcomed him home as soon as he entered through the door and charged him with the task of getting Joshua ready for bed.

    Neku was annoyed at the fact that they kept delegating the task of taking care of Joshua to him. He was starting to feel like he was the parent instead of them. The Composer was carried over to the bathroom and gently shaken awake so that he could take a proper bath.

    Thankfully, Neku was perfectly fine with washing Joshua, it didn’t give him the heebee jeebies like changing his diaper had done. After taking off his own clothes, he did the same for Joshua and went through the ritual of hosing them both down in front of the basin. Neku was feeling lazy today, so instead of soaking twice in the bathtub he decided to wash with soap and shampoo right away (5). Joshua was able to do all his own lathering, but he required Neku’s help to make sure that his hair was thoroughly washed and rinsed.

    Once that was done, Neku picked up Joshua and carried him to the deep tub in the bathroom. He entered the steaming hot water and very carefully lowered the child into it, careful to watch for signs that it was too hot. Joshua seemed perfectly fine with the water temperature, so Neku let go of him and deflated into the water.

    The damp air and cleansing had ruined Neku’s usual spiky hairstyle, leaving him with an orange mop that plastered to his face and neck. The pins that he and Joshua had been wearing were set on the edge of the tub, as well as the Composer’s gold phone. He didn’t stray too far away from those items just in case he needed them. Neku picked up the phone and started idly playing with it, while Joshua entertained himself with a rubber ducky.

    As he relaxed and passed the time, Neku ruminated over the awesomeness that was today, and once again wondered who was thinking of him with so much affection. It had to be either Shiki or Eiri; that was the conclusion he came to. He wondered if he had been too harsh to Eiri when they went out on their date. If he had known that she thought of him that way, he would have been nicer. Of course, that was under the assumption that she truly had those feelings. And if it was Shiki..

    Neku didn’t know what to do if it was Shiki. He just knew that the thought of it made him happy. He smiled to himself as he turned on the camera option of the phone and pointed the viewfinder around. There were still three snapshots left for the day if he wanted to take photographs of the past. It seemed a shame not to use them. He wondered if he should dare take a picture of the bathroom, or if that would make him see things that he really didn’t want to see.

    Something appeared on the viewfinder that startled Neku. The phone slipped from his hands, and he barely caught it in time before it sank into the steaming water. A bewildered look was shot at Joshua, and then looked back at the monitor of the gold phone.

    There was nothing out of the ordinary. The camera displayed the youthful Composer pushing along his rubber ducky over the water. However, Neku could swear that for a split second, he saw an adolescent Joshua reclining in the opposite end of the tub with lean legs folded, one hand holding up the rubber ducky as if in offering and a lascivious look on his face. It was completely incongruent with the present reality that was currently playing out before him.

    Neku set the phone aside with shaky hands and sank into the water until only his eyes showed. I shouldn’t have tried to scan today. I probably fried my brain.

    Joshua turned his back to Neku as he continued to play, and hid the smirk that was on his face.

TO BE CONTINUED.

(1): Niichan = “Brother”

(2): The metric system is used in Japan. Here are the conversions: 0.02 meters = 0.8 inch. 1.7 meters = 5 feet, 7 inches (approximately). Neku’s math isn’t exact, but close enough.

(3) Badtz Maru – One of the Sanrio characters! http://www.sanrio.com/characters/BadtzMaru/?chr=BadtzMaru

(4) Fantasista by Dragon Ash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCMziP19f2Y&feature=related

(5) The following is the bathing ritual in Japan: First, rinse thoroughly with water at the basin. Soak in steaming hot water in the tub. Then exit the tub and wash with shampoo and soap. Then soak a second time. This can be a family ritual, so it is not unusual for more than one family member to be in the tub at the same time.
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