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Shibuya, ever constantly moving. So many people with different hopes, dreams, and thoughts. Yet there is a world most people seem to not be able to see. Neku Sakuraba, at the age of 10 knew he was special in that he could see into this other world. He learned early on not to interact with the people no one seems to notice, especially the ones with black wings. The black-winged ones were scary, especially when they summoned the monsters. When he mentioned what he saw to his parents, they got concerned but brushed it off at first. Later on, when it was just the two of them, his father explained that he should just ignore what he saw. If he wasn't careful, the black-winged people could cause trouble for him.
This still didn't stop Neku from exploring Shibuya and watching those in the unseen world. It was just as if it was another layer to this wonderful city that was so alive. While he did listen to his father's advice, he wanted to know more about what he was seeing. His favorite spots to watch was at Hachiko and the Udagawa back streets. The more active spot was the statue, it also let him blend in more as it wasn't so obvious that he was looking at something he shouldn't be able to see. At the same time, he liked looking at the mural at Udagawa. Something about CAT's work spoke to him and made him feel safe. The only problem was that it wasn't too active and there was a greater chance of being caught watching.
Today's spot was Udagawa. It was times like this Neku wished his mother let him have a phone so what he was doing would look less conspicuous. At least there was a restaurant there that he could watch what was happening. The staff knew him enough that they let it slide, or at least that's what Neku thought. It looked like it was a good day for this location as it seemed to be active today for the other world, so he grabbed a parfait so he could watch without looking suspicious. As he was watching two people fight against the weird monsters, Neku heard a light chuckle from behind him. He turned around to see a boy about his age staring at him. The new boy had short, ashy hair and dark purple eyes that shined with amusement.
“Are you enjoying the show?” the boy asked as he tried to push some hair out of his face, bringing Neku's attention to his sly smile. Neku studied this new person as he would normally. He usually could tell if a person was in his world or the other, but he couldn't for this kid. Since he already acknowledged the stranger, he might as well interact with them.
“Who are you?” Neku asked cautiously.
“My name is Yoshiya Kiryu, but my parents call me Joshua,” the boy said with a smile. “What's your name?” Neku stared at Joshua for a few more seconds as he tried to figure out what to make of the kid. He figured out that the other was in his world as he saw someone move around him. This was the first person besides his father he met that could see the other world.
“I'm Neku Sakuraba,” Neku replied with a small smile. “I never met anyone who could also see them besides my pops. What do you think they are?”
“Ghosts?” Joshua shrugged as he sat down next to the orange haired child. “It's kinda weird seeing it, isn't it? Have you tried talking with any of them?”
“Once,” Neku said as he took a bite of his parfait. He thought about the incident before he swallowed. “I was curious why some of them had wings, so I asked them. They kinda freaked out and ran away. My pops said I shouldn't bother them because I could get in trouble. Something about me being against rules or something. He never really explained it. I dunno how I could even be against rules when I'm not playing a game.”
“Maybe they're playing a game and they can't talk to us,” Joshua said with a smile.
“I wanna know what game it is,” Neku said in wonder. “If they're ghosts, do you think we can play it when we die?” The other shrugged before stealing a bite of Neku's parfait. Neku pouted but let it slide. The two talked until the parfait was gone. Only then did they notice the ghosts (as they dubbed the invisible people) were gone. This caused Neku to frown as that meant he probably should head home.
As if Joshua read his mind, he smiled at his new friend and got up. “Wanna meet up tomorrow? We could get some ramen at Dogenzaka.” Neku smiled and nodded. They agreed on a time and went their separate ways. For what felt like the first time, Neku was excited for the next day.
Weeks passed and the two would meet up as often as they could considering they were still kids. Neku had finally convinced his mother to let him have a cell phone. His father helped, saying Neku was going out more so it would be a good idea to have a way to get in contact with the child. Neither knew that reason why Neku's interest in getting one was mostly so he could get in contact with his new friend. Something told the orange-haired child that he should keep Joshua a secret. The idea of having someone that only he knew made it feel like their relationship was special.
A smile graced Neku's face as he worked on his text to Joshua. Today's meeting spot was Miyashita Park, which was a new favorite spot as they could keep an eye on several places for activity. Not to mention they didn't stick out as much there compared to other places. Now that he had someone else to hang out with, there were less people staring at him. At the least he had a friend that understood him finally.
“Neku, look out!” Neku heard as he was about to press send. He looked up to see Joshua running up confused only to hear the croak of a frog. His head turned slowly towards the sound to see one of the strange frogs that attacked the ghosts staring at him. All Neku could do was freeze as this had never happened before. The weird monsters never seemed to pay any attention to him so it was strange for one to stare directly at him.
Before he could do anything more, the monster jumped towards him. Neku closed his eyes tight to brace for the attack only to hear something and the sound of the frog disappeared. Slowly, Neku opened his eyes to see Joshua in front of him and no sign of the monster. There was a worried expression on Joshua's face, which felt out of place on the other.
“Are you okay?” Joshua asked. “I'm sorry I was running late. If I was any later, who knows what have would happened.”
“I'm fine,” Neku reassured with a wide smile. “What happened to the monster?”
“I took care of it,” Joshua answered. He smiled when he saw Neku's shocked expression, chuckling at the site. “I guess you want to learn how I did it.”
“Duh! Can you teach me?” Neku shouted in excitement. Joshua paused in thought before smiling widely and nodded. The two ran to find a secluded area, Neku grinning the whole time thinking about how Joshua was so cool.
Little did the two know they were being watched. A figure above them kept their eyes on the two as they left the park, smirking with this new-found knowledge.
Weeks turned into months and Neku's friendship with Joshua grew stronger. They met every Sunday at least to help Neku train his skills. Joshua even told the orange-haired child that he was impressed with how fast the other was learning. Neku found using the pins Joshua would give him really helped focus his powers he was learning more about. All the meanwhile, Neku's parents didn't know anything about their son even having a friend.
To the average person, it looked like two kids playing make-believe having super powers. Luckily they managed to practice away from where the ghosts would be each day. Yet there were still monsters for target practice, something that Neku thought was weird but didn't think much of it. Joshua still had to help protect Neku a few times, but it strangely made Neku happy that the other had his back.
Soon after starting his training, Neku started to have weird dreams. In them, he was protecting Joshua from the monsters this time. There were even dreams where he protected the other from the black-winged people and even ghosts. Each time he had one of those dreams, Neku had black wings of his own. He didn't see them every time, but he always felt they were there. Strange since it was a dream and he thought you couldn't feel in your dreams.
Before the two realized it, three years had passed since they first met up at that cafe in Udagawa. They were 13 when Neku realized there was something there. He couldn't explain it, but there was a strange feeling in his stomach when he saw Joshua. His first friend and protector. Neku smiled as he rushed to meet up with his friend at the wall where it all started. What he saw was something he never wanted to see.
“I knew that you were an interesting variable,” a strange guy in black said with a wide smirk. With the practice Neku was doing, he knew right away this guy was a ghost in the other world and not in his. What he couldn't figure out was why the guy felt like one of the ones with black wings yet didn't have any. What scared him the most was the gun the mystery guy had aimed at Joshua.
“Oh, and what makes you say that?” Joshua asked coyly, smirk gracing his face. “I'm just your average kid. How can I be interesting?”
“You think I'm some yoctogram? Ha! I know what you are! I can't figure out how that anomaly factors into the equation, but I'm sure you'll help me with my calculations.” This caused Joshua to frown as the other turned the gun on someone to the side. Joshua gasped and turned to face a shocked Neku who stared down the gun.
Before Joshua could do anything, the mystery guy fired. It felt like things happened in slow motion to Neku. In the blink of an eye, a figure appeared in front of the orange-hair teen. Neku smiled as soon as he recognized who was standing in front of him.
“Pops!” Neku shouted in relief. His expression soon turned into concern as realization came in. “Wait, how did you get here? How did you even know I was here?”
“Not now, Neku,” the new comer said in a stern tone. “You know better than this. Go before you get in trouble.”
“Tch, too many variables,” the mystery guy growled. “You integers better calculate carefully or else you'll end up with the rest of the trash.” Neku's eyes widen as he watched as black wings appeared behind the mystery man. With a final sneer, he took off. The remaining trio looked at one another in uncomfortable silence. It was the lone adult that spoke up first.
“Care to explain what is going on, Joshua?” Neku looked up to his father to see an angry expression that he never seen before. His gaze went to his friend who was just smirking back.
“I was waiting for my friend, Hanekoma,” Joshua said. “It seems he was running late. Right, Neku?”
“Y-yeah,” Neku said as he stepped closer to Joshua. “You guys know each other? Someone tell me what's going on!” Hanekoma sighed, his face soften with a weak smile at his son.
“It's not your fault,” Hanekoma said. “Joshua wasn't supposed to meet you. But since he did and continued to do so, the higher ups know about you. They're not happy.” Joshua glared at Hanekoma before grabbing Neku to have him stand behind him. In turn, Neku squeezed on Joshua's arm instinctively. Neku knew something was wrong but didn't want to speak up.
“I'm not giving Neku up,” Joshua stated. “I won't let them erase him.” Hanekoma held his hands up in surrender.
“They have no plans to do so. Evidently they are interested in what happens now that they found out he has powers that effect the UG while being here in the RG. There are two conditions: his memories of anything related to the UG sealed and both of us have no contact with him until he gets there.”
“NO! I don't want to forget anything!” Neku screamed as he rushed to Hanekoma. His hands gripped his father's vest. “I don't get what you're saying, but I know that means I'll be alone! I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose Joshua!”
Hanekoma gave his son a sad smile before he used his powers to knock out his son. He picked up the young teen in his arms before turning around to walk away. At that moment, being near Joshua was the one place he didn't want to be. A hand landed on his shoulder to prevent him from leaving. He looked to his side as he saw, not Joshua, but the Composer walk by. The Composer placed a wrapped box on his young friend with soft eyes on him. His eyes shifted to Hanekoma, giving them a full force glare. He said two words before disappearing, causing Hanekoma's blood to run cold.
Neku woke up, noticing he was in his bed. He knew something was off because he didn't remember even coming home. His mother's voice filtered in from the other side of the bedroom door. From the tone of her voice, she was upset with someone.
“How could you let that happen to him?” his mother asked in a hush tone. Neku couldn't hear another voice but his mother continued after a bit. “Oh, you didn't know? How did something like Neku making friends with him and them meeting up multiple times get past you?”
This made Neku think about what could have caused her to be upset. The more he sorted through his memories, he realized that something was wrong. He was heading to Udagawa to do something. There was no memory of even why he was going out. His eyes widened when he realized there was a faint memory of someone. Nothing of who they were or what they did. All he knew was that they were important to him.
Neku's mother walked into his room just in time to see her son hyperventilating and shaking. His hands were gripping his hair to the point she knew some strands were pulled out by accident. She rushed over to Neku in hopes of calming him down. Neku felt her arms around him and the sound of humming filled his ears.
“Oh Neku,” she whispered when she felt Neku was starting to calm down. “I'm so sorry, I heard what happened to your friend. Evidently he got hit by a car on his way to meet up with you.”
“W-why can't I remember it?” Neku croaked as tears started to spill out of his eyes. “I c-can't even remember him...”
“The doctor said this might happen. You're suffering from shock and suppressing memories that might be hard for you. I'm sure they'll come back eventually. Oh, the police did find this gift at the accident. It has your name.”
Neku watched his mother place a box in his lap, his name on the tag. He slowly unwrapped it and opened it. Inside were a pair of purple headphones and an MP3 player. Tears trickled down his cheeks as he lightly touched the headphones. A faint memory of ashy hair and a sly smile flashed in his mind that caused more tears to come down. At that moment, Neku swore he wouldn't get close to anyone again. The pain of emptiness wasn't worth having friends.
Two Years Later
Hanekoma walked up to the Composer of Shibuya. He had a faint idea of what the other was thinking because he had similar thoughts. They watched as a teen with orange hair walking through the streets, his headphones blocking out the world. It hurt to have watched a warm child become closed off to the world in such a short time.
“I'm going to erase Shibuya,” the Composer stated. Hanekoma stared in shock at this. Evidently they weren't on the exact same page.
“Don't you think that's a bit extreme?” Hanekoma laughed awkwardly. “What about him? You going to let him be erased?”
“I'm doing this because of him, so of course I'm not going to leave him. I'm going to tell Kitaniji about it so he can start making preparations. After that, I'm going to the RG and getting him.”
Hanekoma sighed, not liking this at all. The blame couldn't be put on anyone but the higher ups. He had to think quick on how to stop the Composer's plans. If Shibuya was destroyed, he knew they would never be forgiven by him. Not to mention they could get in trouble for doing this. The Composer started to walk by Hanekoma before the other spoke.
“Neku might hate you, can you deal with that?”
“I will burn the world for him. Just like I said before, he's mine.”
End