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.
Frequency
-Chapter Three-
The silence broke, and the world was suddenly full of life again. Cars motored their way down the road in front of Neku’s house. Birds resumed chirping in their trees. He could hear the distant sound of the television droning within his home. One look at the side of his house confirmed that he was back to his own dimension: Instead of a mangled mess of glass and brick, there was nothing more than the usual view of his bedroom window.
In a blink, all of the absurdity that came with the attack was gone. It took a few moments for that to sink in. Dazed, Neku walked back into his home and peered at the living room. The walls were fine. His mother was watching TV, and there was no sign that a beast the size of a small car had come tearing through the small space.
Neku lifted Joshua so he could peer at him eye to eye. This was not right. He was alive; there was no reason why he had to play the Reaper’s Game anymore. The fact that he was attacked was unfair and uncalled for. His dues were paid in his past suffering.
“Why?” asked Neku quietly. “Why are you doing this to me again? Haven’t you done enough?”
The infant could only blink innocently at Neku.
“Just what are you up to?” said Neku, voice rising in demand.
Joshua continued to stare back at the orange-haired boy with his lazy eyes. Then he began to kick his legs and his cheeks turned a little red. Neku thought that maybe he was going to get an answer. He leaned forwards in anticipation, not wanting to miss what the Composer had to say for his actions.
The only thing that Neku got in response was a soft “pfft….pfft…” and the accompanying aroma of a used diaper. His eyes widened to the size of saucers. He couldn’t believe it. Did Joshua just poop his pants?
Yes. Yes he fucking did.
“….MOOOOOOOOOOM.”
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“Rrrrrraaaagh! Why are we stuck on this endless mission from hell?! We should be annihilating players, not walking around on a wild goose chase with no end in sight!” shouted Uzuki into the crowded plaza.
Fortunately, none of the passersby paid any attention to her. The tourists and locals that were milling in front of Hachiko were completely oblivious to the two Reapers that were standing in front of the statue.
Unlike Uzuki, Kariya was laid back as always. He popped his bean paste flavored lollipop out of his mouth so that he could say, “What Players. The game has been on indefinite hiatus for weeks. You’re too high strung, just relax and enjoy the vacation.”
“Am I the only one that finds it bizarre that we haven’t had any work in weeks?” asked Uzuki with an angry twist to her lips. “What burns me the most is the fact that I recognize people that I erased walking the streets, alive. All of our hard work was completely negated. What’s going to happen to our points?”
“Dunno,” said Kariya with a negligent shrug of his shoulders. “Either way, whatever happens to our points happens to the rest of the Reapers, so in the end it’s all a wash. We’ll just have to start from scratch again.”
Uzuki raised her gloved fingers to her temples, as if she could feel an impending headache coming on. “As always, there’s hardly any appreciation for a Reaper’s work around here. Just as I decided to advance through the ranks to change our working conditions, everything comes to a dead halt.”
Kariya’s eyes darkened behind the amber-tinted sunglasses that he wore. “You should be glad that we’re even here at all. By now you’ve heard the rumor. Shibuya was slated for destruction during the last game. Lucky us, a Player swayed the Composer’s mind at the final moment.”
“Hah! As if I’d believe that dribble,” said Uzuki dismissively. “How can a mere Player change the mind of the Composer? That’s assuming that they even met face to face. Why would a Player be privileged to know who the Composer is, while we Reapers are left in the dark?”
“It’s because the ranks are full of opportunists like you, Uzuki,” said Kariya with a smirk. “Although, maybe there’s some measure of trust considering that we were chosen for this mission.”
“Some mission,” groused Uzuki. “Patrol the Realground for anything out of the ordinary. Not only is this mission lame, but it doesn’t make sense that we have to keep it top secret.”
“On the contrary. If something is going on the Realground that is affecting the Underground, then it’s best if word doesn’t get around. You’re still too much of a spring chicken to know this, but people who are alive are ten times as powerful as any Reaper. Should a living being declare war on the Underground, we’d all be sitting ducks.”
“Like that kid from the last game,” said Uzuki in realization. “That Kiryu, Yoshiya.”
“Precisely,” cooed Kariya in an impressed tone of voice. He gestured with his lollipop as he spoke. “Every now and then, there’s a human born with the right kind of frequency that can tune in to the Realground and Underground. I’d say it happens 1 in every 1000000 births. Normally it’s not a big deal, but when they interfere with the Underground, it’s nothing but trouble. There was once a massacre right here in Shibuya when a live Player entered the game. Hardly any Reapers were left. That’s why the rules now state, no living can play the game.”
Uzuki shivered at the thought of being erased by a living Player. She covered her arms as if the chill was very real. “So you’re saying that we’re patrolling the Realground in search of living beings that are interfering with the Underground?”
“Who knows,” said Kariya with a shrug. “But it makes the most logical sense, if you ask me.” He popped his lollipop back into his mouth and resumed scanning the plaza for anything out of the ordinary. One by one, Kariya eavesdropped into the thoughts of the passersby, hoping to catch some snippet of information that would point them in the right direction as to what they were supposed to do next.
“It’s still a crappy mission,” said Uzuki sullenly. “The least that the Conductor could have done was point us in the right direction.” She bit her lip out of frustration, and then likewise resumed probing people’s minds for information.
Something happened to catch Kariya’s eye, and it caused a big grin to stretch across his lips. He ambled towards the edge of the sidewalk, where he knelt down to pick something off the ground.
Uzuki noticed what Kariya was doing, and she sniped playfully, “Only a hobo like you would go around picking trash off the streets of Shibuya.”
“Au contraire, this is far from trash,” said Kariya. He revealed what it was that he just picked up from the floor: a pair of purple headphones. They were expertly spun around the top of his index finger by the head piece. “Recognize them?”
“How could I forget?” said Uzuki distastefully. “I’m so mad that kid defeated us so many times. The next time he dies, I want a rematch.”
“Hey, he wasn’t he wasn’t a bad kid. The fact that he even left this thing behind shows that he’s a refined soul,” said Kariya. He stopped spinning the headphones and instead, placed him over his head. “Even if he died, you won’t see him in the Underground. People like that go straight to the Upper Plane.”
“Why?” asked Uzuki. “What does he have that makes him so special?”
“Definitely, a wild imagination,” said Kairya smoothly as he pressed the headset to his ears. “And something else. If you knew what it was, you’d no longer be a Reaper, Uzuki.”
“But you do know, don’t you,” said Uzuki with a scowl. “Yet you refuse to ascend.”
“What can I say, I love Shibuya. And guys like ‘Phones make it worth lingering a little longer to see what happens to this world.”
“You’re such a weirdo,” said Uzuki. She watched her partner hug the silent headphones to his ears with distaste. “What are you doing anyway?”
“Exactly what it looks like,” said Kariya around his lollipop. “Imaging what kind of music that kid listened to. I say we pay him a visit, mmm?”
“If we can even find him,” said Uzuki with a scowl. There were probably 78537 “Sakuraba” surnames listed in the public phone book, and none of them were be the Neku that they were looking for. Considering the hundreds of thousands of people that lived in Shibuya, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. “What’s the point anyway?”
“Don’t you know? They say he’s the one that changed the Composer’s mind.”
“That kid, the hero of Shibuya? Dream on!” said Uzuki incredulously.
Although, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Kariya might be on to something. Neku was awfully powerful, and now he was alive. It was scary to think of what would happen if he ever decided to turn against the Underground while he was living.
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Neku felt like he was going to throw up. While his mom took care of the dirty task of changing Joshua’s diaper, he lingered in the living room with a green tinge to his face. Baby poop. It was the single most nasty thing he’d ever smelled or seen. WHY was this happening to him?
“Neku?” called his mother. She emerged from the bathroom with a freshly bathed and diapered Joshua. There was a disturbed expression on her face as she balanced the infant on her hip. “Do you know who this child is?”
Neku bolted upright from his wilted position over the edge of the couch arm with alarm. “What.. What do you mean? It’s Yoshiya,” he said nervously.
“Am I supposed to know this Yoshiya?” she asked Neku. “Does he belong to one of your friends?”
Neku’s eyes quickly scanned Joshua. He saw that the baby was now wearing a blue jumpsuit with Sanrio Sugar Bunnies as is primary decal. (1) It even came with a hoodie that had floppy rabbit ears.
The pins, he thought frantically.
She took them off. “Er yeah, he belongs to Beat,” he said, naming the first friend that came to mind.
“Well tell this Beat that he can’t leave a child here at this time of night, that’s very irresponsible,” said Neku’s mother. “He’s going to have to come and pick him up.”
“Sure, I’ll call him,” said Neku, while inwardly panicking. He got up from the couch and rushed into the bathroom.
The pins, where did she put the pins? came his panicked thoughts. Neku spied a nearby hamper, and his stomach turned when he realized that the pins were probably with the clothing that Joshua had soiled.
I hate you Joshua! He screamed in his head as he began digging through the dirty clothes.
I hate you and I’ll never forgive you!! Thankfully, Neku was able to locate the pins. He washed his hands for a good ten minutes afterwards, and then he returned to the living room. Joshua had been left on the couch alone, as if Neku’s mother couldn’t stand to be in his presence for one second longer. Neku clipped the pins onto Joshua’s jumper and then picked the baby up into his arms.
“Mom,” called Neku. When he heard the answering call from the kitchen, he walked over to his mother and presented Joshua. He hoped that putting the pins back would fix the problem. “Should I still call Beat?”
“Of course,” she said to Neku. “I already told you, that baby can’t stay here.”
Damn, thought Neku. Now that a different thought was in his mother’s head, the Family Time pin wasn’t as effective. There was nothing left that he could do now – he had to call Beat.
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When Neku called Beat, he told him what was going on, including the fact that he had been attacked. The same was done for Shiki. Despite the danger, Beat was more than willing to take on the responsibility of caring for Joshua. Even so, it didn’t make Neku feel any better about the current situation. Passing on Joshua to Beat was like painting a giant red bulls eye on his friend’s back.
Beat arrived at the Sakuraba household an hour after their phone conversation. His home was in a different residential district, and it took a while to decipher the directions to Neku’s house. As soon as he rang the doorbell, Neku answered the door with an armful of Joshua.
“Nice house ‘Phones,” said Beat with a grin. “Or should I call you somethin’ else? You ain’t been wearing your gear lately.”
Neku self-consciously touched the side of one of his ears. Ever since he ditched his headphones, he felt like something was missing. His music never strayed far, however. He kept his USB around his neck no matter what he was wearing. “Just Neku is fine,” he said in a hushed voice. He didn’t want his mom overhearing them. “Did you bring your pin?”
“Yeah, ah got my shit,” answered Beat. He pulled the collar of his shirt down and inverted it so that Neku could see his hidden Respect pin. “I don’t evah take it off. It’s my good luck charm.”
“Have you tried using it since you got back?” asked Neku. He unconsciously began to bounce Joshua on his hip.
“Yeah, it don’t work. Rhyme says that we gotta have a pact or it ain’t worth a dime.”
“But I do have a pact,” said Neku with a frown. “Joshua made one with me.”
“I dunno man. Maybe it don’t count if you’re living.”
Neku looked unhappy at the thought that being true. “I guess it can’t be helped. Just watch your back. I don’t know why the Noise came here. Maybe it was after Joshua.” After a few moments, he reluctantly offered over the backpack, baby bag, golden cell phone and Joshua to Beat.
Beat loaded up Joshua into the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Then he dropped his skateboard onto the ground and balanced on top of it with the baby bag in hand. At Neku’s worried look, he gave his friend a thumb up. “Don’t worry, I got this. You ain’t got nothing to worry about.”
Somehow, Neku wasn’t convinced. He watched Beat sail away on his skateboard down the hill, and then he folded his arms across himself.
I kind of feel relieved that he’s gone. Neku was shocked at his own callous thoughts towards the infant. A few hours ago, he had done his all to protect him, and now he was glad that Joshua was out of his hands. He couldn’t understand why he had such conflicting emotions.
Maybe because I’m a jerk. Neku felt disappointed in himself. He moved away from the door and went back inside of the house.
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Beat’s skateboard rolled down the sidewalk with ease. He had boarded for so many years of his life that carrying a baby bag on his back and a diaper bag in his hand hardly affected his skill. “Looks like it’s jus’ you n’ me, little man,” he said to Joshua.
Suddenly, there was a flash of glittering light. Beat dragged his board to a stop and immediately looked left, then right. He even turned his gaze upwards, as if he expected the source of the light to have come from the heavens above.
“That’s weird yo,” he said to himself. “Could’a sworn I just made a pact.”
With a shrug, Beat continued on his way. Behind him, Joshua gave a happy babble, as if the ride was amusing him.
“Baah kaaah,” the baby said gleefully. (2)
When Beat arrived at his house, he kicked up his board and punched in the security code to open the gate. Unlike Neku and Shiki, he lived in a very swank condo with his mother, father and sister. His parents were American born expatriates who had permanently moved to Japan. Beat’s dad was a chemical engineer, and his mother was a mangaka. (3) Their personalities were as different as their careers; it was no wonder that they fought all the time.
“Beat, you are late for dinner,” said his father’s stern voice from the kitchen area. “Why do you think that you can just leave this house suddenly without any explanation?”
“Stop ragging on him, he’s young and he can do what he wants,” came a snippy reply from Beat’s mother.
Beat rolled his eyes as he went through the process of taking off his shoes. He pulled the baby bag to the front of his body with a hopeful expression on his face. Maybe having an infant around would cause a truce in the ever-present tension that was always in his home. In hopes of achieving this, he rushed over to the kitchen with Joshua in hand, and upon arriving, held the baby up as if he was the king of the jungle presenting his first son. “Yo, look who I brought!” he crowed to his parents. An extra little brother was sure to pacify them.
His parents and his sister were seated at the granite island bar in the middle of the kitchen. They were all eating dinner, and the moment that Beat arrived, the three of them stopped lifting the chopsticks to their mouths and stared. His parents wore blank expressions on their face, which slowly turned into masks of derision.
“So you decided to bring your bastard son to dinner eh,” said his father testily.
“Wh-what?” said Beat incredulously. “This be Yoshiya yo, you know ‘bout him right?”
“How can we forget about the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in your life,” said his mother with a sigh. “You should have waited until after college to have children. Now we’re stuck as grandparents before our time, and of course we still don’t know who the mother is.”
Rhyme put her chopsticks down and covered her mouth. There was a mixed look of both horror and amusement on her face.
“Oh hell naw, you got it all wrong! This be my little bro. I’m not a baby daddy!” said Beat in a panic.
“Just shut up and eat,” thundered his father.
“Bwaaaaaaaauuugh!”
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Unfortunately, the Family Time pin didn’t work on Beat’s family as nicely as it did for Neku’s. His parents believed that Joshua was his son, and they took every opportunity to belittle him for getting some girl pregnant. Beat’s life at home became even more of a nightmare than it already was. Every day, his parents pressured him to drop out of school so that he could support the baby. It was ironic, considering that for once in his life; he actually wanted to try doing the school thing.
The infant was cared for by the live-in maid whenever he went to school. As soon as class let out, he would rush to his house, pick up Joshua and then leave again. He hoped that completely removing the Composer from the premises would ease the tension in his home. Yet, despite how completely unbearable things had become, he never once complained about it to his friends.
Currently, he was sitting at the plaza that housed the Hachiko statue with Joshua on his lap. The baby was being extra fussy today; the infant rejected all the toys that Beat gave him by breaking into wails at every offered item. People were starting to look in their direction and shake their heads piteously at what they considered to be a clueless teen father.
Beat sighed as he reached into the baby bag and looked for something else that would keep Joshua happy. He found the gold cell phone, and immediately the child responded with a gleeful sound and outstretched arms. “Dis what you wanted?” he said in disbelief. “Well, dun toss it or you’ll break your shit.”
The golden cell phone was offered to Joshua, and finally the baby settled down. Beat deflated with relief now that he had some peace and quiet.
“You look down,” said a familiar voice. Beat looked up and found Neku approaching with Shiki. Ever since they found out that they were in the same school, they often walked together, sometimes with Eiri, and sometimes just the two of them.
Beat gave the two of them a knowing grin. “Yus walkin t’gether again as if ya’ll going out.”
Neku and Shiki looked at each other, and then they turned their heads away with blushes on their faces. “Will you cut that out,” said Neku with embarrassment. “Where’s Rhyme anyway?”
“She doin’ homework in the library,” explained Beat. He thought that maybe he should be studying too, but not only did he loathe the idea, but he felt torn between that and his obligations to help out with Joshua. “Why you so shy ‘bout Shiki, I think ya’ll should hook up already.” Beat reached out to punch Neku playfully on the shoulder.
The reaction that he got was unexpected. Neku cried out and held his shoulder as if he’d just been rammed with a brick. “Ow! Damnit,” he hissed.
“Wua? I ain’t hit you that hard,” said Beat in alarm.
“No, it’s just..” muttered Neku as he painfully clutched at his shoulder.
Shiki brushed aside Neku’s hand and began rolling up the sleeve of his shirt. Her embarrassment over Beat’s ribbing was completely replaced by her concern for Neku. “You’re hiding something under here, aren’t you,” she said to Neku.
“Err,” began Neku nervously. He wouldn’t put it past her to strip his entire shirt off in public. Shiki had made it quite clear in the past that she wasn’t afraid of naked guys. “It’s just a bruise.”
The bruise that Neku spoke of turned out to be a huge black, blue and green contusion that stretched from the top of his shoulder town to his elbow. He had acquired it when he was dragged across the floor during his battle with the Noise.
Shiki gasped in disbelief upon seeing it. “Neku! When were you going to tell us that you got this hurt?”
“I didn’t want you guys to worry,” said Neku lamely.
“Was that from that fight?” asked Beat with wide eyes. “That’s wack, yo. When we fight the Noise, we don’t ever get hurt like that.”
It was true. When they were in the Reaper’s Game, both the physical and psychic attacks of the Noise never hurt their bodies. Instead, it made them feel drained, as if their very spirit was being sucked out of them and scattered to the wind. As long as they emerged victorious from the battle, they felt completely restored and euphoric.
Not so in Neku’s case. The boy said grimly, “Maybe it’s different when you fight Noise while you’re alive.”
That was a sobering thought. The three of them remained silent as they digested that information. It was only the sound of flashing that broke them from their reverie. Joshua had managed to open the cell phone with his small hands and somehow found the option to take pictures.
“Hey little man, you’re supposed to say cheese before you throw some snaps,” chastised Beat. He took the phone out of Joshua’s hands and scrolled through the picture folder to see what the baby had managed to get a snapshot of. What he saw made him gawk at the phone. “Bwuaaaagh? Pinky!”
“What?” said Neku in alarm. He leaned over Beat so that he could peer over his shoulder at the phone, and Shiki did the same. All three of them shared looks of surprise upon seeing what was there. On the view screen was a lopsided picture of Hachiko, and standing in front of the statue was Kariya and Uzuki.
“It’s that crabby witch!” said Shiki with a touch of annoyance.
“An’ look, that’s Lollipop,” added Beat.
“What the hell, he’s wearing my phones,” said Neku with a scowl. It kind of pissed him off to see someone wearing his headphones, even though he had discarded them almost a week ago. It was an item filled with nostalgia, and that was precisely why he had tossed it away. Still, it irked him that someone else had them now. “It says on the time stamp that this was three days ago.”
“Oh yah, I remember. Your cells could do this crazy time-travel shit,” said Beat with realization.
Neku shook his head. “Mine doesn’t anymore. I don’t think it’s the same phone that I had in the game. It was probably taken away after I came back to life.”
“Joshua’s works though,” mused Shiki. “Why do you think those guys were here at Hachiko?”
“Looking for the Composer,” said Neku grimly. “I ran into Triple Seven back when we were at Club Harlem. He was looking for the Composer too. Probably all the Reapers are.”
“Aw shit,” said Beat. “Looking for the Composer only means one thing, yo. Same reason I was hunting his ass down. They wanna replace him.”
“They wouldn’t erase him though, would they?” asked Shiki worriedly. “I mean, he’s just a baby.”
“The good news is that they have no idea that he’s a baby, and nobody knows the Composer’s face in the first place,” said Neku. “We’ll just have to keep up the charade.”
“I never thought that we’d have to deal with those guys again,” murmured Shiki.
“They ain’t allowed to hurt the livin,” said Beat. “I know dat from when I was one of ‘em. You ain’t got nothing to worry ‘bout.”
“There’s just one problem,” said Neku. “Now that we’re alive, they can probably scan us. If any of us thinks the wrong thing, then they’ll find out about Joshua. That leaves us with one option. We have to wear the Player pins.”
“Bwuuuuuaaagh?! Is you crazy? What if dat makes us Players!” said Beat in shock.
“We’re not playing the game, we’re just maintaining our privacy,” said Neku. “Besides, a game hasn’t been held in forever, and they won’t have one until they get the Composer back.”
“What about the Noise that attacked you?” asked Shiki. “What if wearing the Player pin makes them target us?”
“I wasn’t wearing any pins when that happened,” said Neku. “I don’t think it matters if it’s a Taboo noise.”
“I don’t like this,” said Beat worriedly. “This shit is getting too deep.”
“Sorry for dragging you guys into this,” said Neku with real remorse.
“It’s just until Joshua gets better. We can hang in there until then,” said Shiki. “We’re in this together, right?”
“Yeah, I told yus not to worry,” said Beat. “We got this.”
Neku remembered the dragon-like monster that attacked him and involuntarily touched his bruised shoulder. For everyone’s sake, he hoped that they really could handle this, and come out alive.
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In the end, they decided on a strategy. Not only would they start wearing Player pins, but they would use Joshua’s cell phone to scan areas where Reapers may have been hanging out. Unfortunately, the phone continued to work only three times a day, which amounted to three instances out of a full twenty four hour day. Still, it was better than nothing. It was pure luck that Joshua accidentally managed to take a snapshot at the right time and place.
Or was it.
Neku was suspicious that Joshua was more conscious than he let on, but there was no way to prove it; especially when he continued to poop on himself. He was so glad that Beat was able to handle that kind of thing, because Neku could only flip out every single time that it happened.
Unfortunately, things weren’t going to stay safe for Beat for long, and it wasn’t because of any Reapers. The local street gangs continued to harass him, and things got worse and worse the more that he showed his face outside of his house.
He thought he could handle it. Most of the time he fought them off, and there were times when he was with Joshua that things just sort of happened to fall in his favor. However, there came a point where the local riff raff wasn’t going to take any chances with Beat anymore.
It happened when Beat was coming home late with Joshua in his baby backpack. He was hanging out at Ramen Don with his friends, and by the time he decided to go home, it was nearly 10 o’ clock at night. Rhyme had turned in early because of school the next day, and as always, Beat hung around a little later before likewise deciding to head back.
He took a familiar route down an alleyway. His skateboard rolled against the cement beneath him, its noise echoing along the walls. There was nothing to indicate that he was rolling right into an ambush. Before he reached the mouth of the alleyway, a bunch of guys began gathering at the alleyway’s exit. Beat planted his foot on the ground to stop his board and rotate it so that he could escape the way that he came – only to find that another group of men were blocking that route as well. His chest tightened when he realized that there was nowhere to run, and he was alone versus a dozen guys penning him in.
“What da fuck is this, West Side Story?” he yelled.
“This is a lesson, Beat,” said a tough looking thug at the front of the line. There was a steel pipe in his hands, and he kept tapping it against his palms. “The boss don’t like you turning down his charity, get what I’m saying. You’re too much of an inspiration. You got some of our home boys talking about going to school and making something of themselves. Gay ass bullshit like that.”
“If he ain’t want me to leave, then he should’a said so,” said Beat, raising a fist. “I asked for his permission!”
“He was being too kind. He figured you’d get a taste of that school life and come running back. Now he’s tired of waiting, and here we are. So what it’s gonna be. You gonna be one of us again?” The thug insolently kept his chin raised as he spoke to Beat, obviously not thinking much of his answer either way.
“No way,” said Beat defiantly. “Ya’ll don’t know what ah been through. If you seen the shit I’ve seen, you wouldn’t be wasting your time like dis. Ain’t nothing waitin’ for you on the other side but hell!”
“What the fuck is this, you got religion too?” said the ringleader incredulously. The men gathered behind him began to laugh. “Don’t worry Beat, I got your God right here.” The man waved the metal pipe that was in his hands. “Get him, mess him up!”
At that barked order, the men advanced on Beat with their weapons. The boy kicked up his skateboard and held it up as a shield. Beat backed up until he was close to the brick wall behind him, and his assailants formed a semicircle around him as they advanced. “Wait! Ya’ll can fight me, but don’t touch da baby!” he shouted frantically. Joshua was still in his backpack. He feared more for the helpless Composer than himself in this moment.
The first wave of men swung their pipes, bats and crowbars at him, and it was all Beat could to do hold up his skateboard and scream, “You monsters!!!!”
Suddenly, the crowd was pushed back as if caught in a tidal wave. There was a flash of red light, and Beat opened his eyes in realization. His skateboard was covered in a crimson glow, and at his neck, he could feel the Respect pin clipped to his collar humming with power.
“Hahhahahahhaha,” laughed Beat. The change in his demeanor and the odd happenstance made the men hesitate in their attack. There was a dark look on Beat’s face as he threw his skateboard on the ground and leveled a dangerous look at the crowd. “Ya’ll better say your prayers, cuz I’mma ‘bout to teach ya’ll the meaning of RESPECT!”
That was all the warning that the men received. Those who were gathered in the alleyway saw things that no living human being had ever seen in their lifetime. Some would claim that Beat was able to levitate off the ground and bang their heads with his skateboard from above. Others would say that they were knocked on their butts by an intangible red energy that shot out like a shockwave every time Beat turned his skateboard a certain way. Still others would say that they found themselves wrapped up in chains and tortured with electric energy until they peed in their pants.
Either way, the men left the alleyway screaming for their lives.
Half a block away, a black BMW was parked by the sidewalk. Sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle was Yamata, and his own personal driver took the wheel to his right. (4) He was watching his men run out of the alleyway with satisfaction. Yamata assumed that everyone was sprinting to escape the scene of the crime.
Imagine his surprise when a triumphant Beat skated out of the darkness without so much as a scratch on him. Yamata narrowed his eyes at the incompetence of his men, already making plans as to how he would have them all disciplined later. “Get next to him,” he ordered his driver. As the vehicle took off in a slow roll, he reached into the lapel of his jacket and took out a glock. He undid safety and rolled down the window.
“Beat,” he called out to the teenager once he was close enough.
Beat was to the front and side of the vehicle, balancing on his skateboard as he made his way down the street. He looked over his shoulder and was blinded by the headlights in his face.
“No one leaves the family,” said Yamata. Then he raised his gun and fired off several shots.
Beat’s first instinct was to turn around to prevent the bullets from hitting the baby, even though it was too little, too late. He didn’t have a chance to make a sound, and the last thought in his mind was that he had completely and utterly failed to protect Joshua in the same way that he was helpless to save Rhyme.
With his hands held protectively in front of him and his body half twisted, he expected to feel his body ripped asunder by bullets. However, the pain never came, and the moment stretched. Slowly, Beat opened his eyes, and then they widened at the strangeness before him. The bullets were hovering in midair just in front of him. Immediately, he completed his turn so that Joshua was completely behind him, in case those bullets decided to continue on their path.
Instead, they clattered noisily to the ground. Yamata and his driver wore shocked looks on their faces, obviously unable to process what it was that they just witnessed. With shaking hands, Yamata lowered his gun and shouted, “Run his ass own! Smoke him!”
The BMW’s wheels bit into the asphalt as the driver floored the accelerator. The car rocketed towards Beat and Joshua, and for a moment, Beat was struck by a sense of déjà vu. He immediately threw himself to the side, but in the end it was not necessary.
In a completely bizarre turn of events, the car levitated off the ground. It cart wheeled over Beat’s head and landed upside down on the opposite side of where he had planted himself on the ground. The BMW landed on the asphalt with a bone chilling crush of glass and metal that set off several alarms of cars parked down the sidewalk.
Bewildered, Beat scrambled to his feet and stared at the mangled scene of metal and carnage before him.
That.. wasn’t caused by his Respect pin.
Distantly, he could hear the sound of sirens. In a panic, he picked up his skateboard and went running away from the scene of the crime. He didn’t stop sprinting until he was nearly thirteen blocks away from where he almost got jumped. Eventually, his legs gave out and he dropped to his hands and knees, his skateboard clattering with a heavy thud as he gasped for breath.
It took several minutes before he was able to recover. He shakily pulled himself to his knees and tugged the baby bag to his front so that he could look at Joshua. The baby seemed okay; he was alert and gazing back at Beat with his purple eyes. Joshua didn’t seem the least bit disturbed by all the crazy things that just happened.
“It.. it was you, right?” gasped Beat. That amount of power was breathtaking. Beat could feel it through the pact. Neku had strong psychic abilities, and when they battled Kitanaji, the odds had been overwhelming, but this was on a completely different scale. Beat felt as if he just witnessed God make a miracle happen on earth.
It was terrifying.
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That night, Shiki was in her room using her sewing machine. She had a habit of staying up late to do all of her designing and stitching. As she worked, a loud noise caught her attention. Shiki paused what she was doing and looked over her shoulder. There it was again.
Thump. Crack.
She walked over to the window and opened it. After sticking her head out, she spied Beat on the ground level with rocks in his hand. “Beat,” she hissed down at the boy. “What in the world are you doing?”
“Yo, I’m sorry but, ah can’t do this no more,” he hissed back up to Shiki. “Yus gotta take dis kid outta my hands.”
“What?” she said in disbelief. “Why? You said you would be able to handle it.”
“Ah thought I could,” said Beat. He touched the back of his beanie, obviously uncomfortable. “But dis ain’t no joke. He’s dangerous. It ain’t a good idea t’ have him ‘round mah family right now.”
“Oh Beat,” said Shiki sympathetically. “You were really burdened all this time weren’t you?” She leaned away from the window, and moments later, she appeared at the front door. Shiki walked down the stairs and eagerly took Joshua out of Beat’s hands. “You’ve done enough Beat. It’s my turn to help Neku now.”
“Thanks,” said Beat with a sigh of relief. “Watch yo’ back. Dat kid ain’t normal.”
“I know. He’s the Composer after all,” she said to Beat. Shiki took one arm off Joshua to touch Beat’s shoulder. “Thanks for everything, just go home and relax.”
Beat watched Shiki return to her house worriedly. There was so much more he wanted to explain, but when it came down to it, he was really happy to see the responsibility of taking care of Joshua go to someone else. As much as he hated to admit it, he was relieved.
With a sigh, he began to trudge home. All he wanted to do right now was see the faces of his family and go to sleep.
Shiki entered her home and closed the door behind her. Just as the latch clicked, she suddenly saw lights dance before her eyes. She blinked in surprise, and then looked down at Joshua. “So it is true, you are making pacts, aren’t you.”
Joshua made a soft sound as he looked up at Shiki.
“Hmm,” murmured Shiki. There wasn’t anything that she could do about it now, although she wondered about the reason behind it. Without a word, she went to find her parents. The sooner that she found out how the Family Time pin responded, the better.
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Luckily for Shiki, her parents easily accepted Joshua into the fold. He was regarded as her brother, and they fawned over him as if he was one of their own. Things seemed to work out better for her than it did with Beat and Neku.
Beat was very edgy around Joshua nowadays, and it was obvious to everyone that he was uncomfortable. When Neku questioned him about it, Beat would only say that he remembered that they were dealing with the Composer. He still chose not to tell the others about the problems that he was having, but at this point it didn’t seem to matter. Rumors of what happened that night spread like wildfire throughout the seedy parts of Shibuya, and now the local gangs completely avoided Beat.
Things continued smoothly until about a week later. Neku got a phone call at five AM in the morning, much to his chagrin. At first, he covered his head with his pillow and tried to ignore it, but whoever was on the line was insistent. When the phone rang for the tenth time, he grumbled and finally reached over to his nightstand to grab his cell.
He didn’t even bother to check who was calling him at this ungodly hour of the day. Instead, he flipped open the receiver and placed it against his ear. Neku snuggled back into the blankets, eyes already closing as he muttered huskily, “What the fuck.”
“Neku? It’s Shiki,” came his friend’s nervous voice.
Instantly, Neku was awake. He shoved the blankets off his chest and sat up in bed. “Shiki? What’s going on?”
“You have to come over right now. You have to see this to believe it.”
“I’ll be there,” said Neku. In a flash, he threw on some clothes and stealthily made his way to the front door of the house. He didn’t know what was going on, but if Shiki needed to see him right now, then something was definitely up. Was she in trouble? Did something happen to Joshua?
His parents were still asleep, so they were unaware when he slipped his shoes on at the front door and made his way outside. As soon as he was past the front gate of the house, he sprinted down the sidewalk to Shiki’s house.
She lived a good ten blocks away. By the time he got there, he was completely out of breath and it was all he could do to double over and plant his hands on his knees to catch his air. Shiki had been keeping a careful watch at the window, and as soon as Neku made his appearance, she went to the front door and opened it for him.
“Hurry, while my parents are still asleep,” she said, gesturing for Neku to enter.
“Did..something.. happen?” asked Neku between gasps. He made his way up the four stairs leading to the interior of Shiki’s home. As soon as he got there, he heaved a hushed sigh to try to get his breathing under control.
“Well…not exactly… the thing is…” began Shiki.
She never needed to finish. Neku heard soft footsteps, and he looked up to see who had caught them meeting at this ungodly hour of the morning. What he saw made his jaw drop.
It was Joshua. He was no longer the infant that Sanae had thrust into his arms a few weeks ago. Instead, he was a willowy, young toddler. He looked as if he was about three years old. The boy was wearing one of Shiki’s white blouses, which fit so loosely on his small frame that it draped off his left shoulder. With his growth came the ability to walk, as evidenced by the way that he was currently balancing on two legs. His hair had lengthened, and now the ash blonde curls were a thick cloud that stopped just below the nape of his neck and behind his ears. He was looking at Neku and Shiki with a sleepy expression on his face.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Shiki. She pressed a finger to her chin in wonderment. “I woke up early to feed him, and he looked like this. I have no idea how my parents will react.”
Neku stared at Joshua. He had to look at the bright side of this. If Joshua was growing up, then that meant that the Composer was slowly returning back to normal, right? And that also meant…
“This,” said Neku in a low voice. It gained in strength and triumph as he gathered his next words. “This is AWESOME.”
“What?” said Shiki in surprise. “Why is it awesome?”
“Don’t you see?” said Neku. He whirled around to face his friend. “He’s what, three years old now? That means that he can be potty trained!”
Shiki blinked in surprise at what Neku said, and then she fisted her hands at her sides. “Neku, how can you make a joke of this!”
“I’m not joking, we’re free of the baby poop!”
“How can that be the only thing you care about right now!”
“Because that was the worst part of all! I’d rather fight Noise than have to change his diaper. Quick, how do we start the toilet training?” asked Neku enthusiastically.
“Neku you idiot!” said Shiki with exacerbation. She turned in Joshua’s direction, and gasped upon seeing empty space where the child once stood. “Oh no, where did he go?”
“Huh?” Neku likewise began scanning the area for Joshua, but found the boy to be missing. “He didn’t go through the front door; he’s got to still be in the house.”
“You probably embarrassed him with all your toilet talk,” said Shiki defensively. She then quietly tiptoed her way through the house in search of the young child. “Jo-chan, where are you?” she whispered.
“He should be embarrassed,” muttered Neku. He likewise began searching the house for Joshua. God knows what kind of trouble the Composer would get into if left on his own.
“Found him!” came Shiki’s hushed voice. Upon hearing that, Neku rushed over to see where Joshua had gotten to.
He found Shiki hovering by the bathroom door. The both of them peeped inside the room to see what was going on. Joshua was seated on the toilet, which happened to be one of those ultra fancy electronic ones. (5) The child was looking at one of Shiki’s Shounen Jump manga while he sat on the pot.
It was such a bizarre scene that Shiki and Neku could only stare. Only hours ago Joshua was a baby, and now he was using the bidet, heated seat and blow-dryer options that came with the toilet with ease. Once he was done his business, he hopped off the john and flushed. Then he shuffled his way past Neku and Shiki, scuffing oversized house slippers that he wore on his feet the entire way.
“………Wow,” uttered Shiki.
“He’s a child of the corn,” muttered Neku.
TO BE CONTINUED
(1) Sanrio Sugar Bunnies – Look here to see what they are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarbunnies
(2) “Baah kaah” – Joshua’s baby-speak for “baka,” which means “stupid” in Japanese.
(3) Mangaka – A Japanese comic book artist.
(4) Your eyes are not deceiving you! In Japan, the steering wheel is to the right of the vehicle, so the driver is sitting to Yamata’s right.
(5) If you’re curious about the modern Japanese toilet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcRjDDSmDBo
