Work Text:
Haz: Are you free this afternoon?
Rindo: can be
y?
Haz: I have some business in Shibuya the next few days. Since I’ll be in the area, I thought we could try a “date”.
Rindo: lol u really need 2 stop w/ the quotation marks dude
but sure!
(Sticker: "On my way!")
Haz: I have a friend who speaks highly of a café on Cat Street. Is that acceptable to you?
Rindo: works 4 me
--
WildKat’s not the cheapest place for a date, and the food is, Neku admits, mediocre. It’s not exactly Mr. H’s top priority. Or his second. Or even his third, depending on if you count “Shibuya” and “the UG” as separate entities. Josh goes back and forth on it himself sometimes, and as the Composer, he should know. But it’s one of the few places where Josh lets himself relax in the RG – well, Neku's reasonably sure it’s the RG – so it's become a routine of theirs, Tuesdays after class for Neku and work for Josh. Sometimes they meet up there, sometimes, like today, Joshua walks with him. It's nice, having a routine.
When he gets there, he's surprised to see another customer in WildKat for once, sitting at the counter. Actually... Neku vaguely remembers the guy in the bucket hat with the wavy black hair and the bunny phone case.
“You’re – Rhyme’s friend, aren’t you?” Neku asks the man at the counter.
His phone buzzes in response. “Yes! I’m Kaie Ono. A pleasure to see you again, Neku Sakuraba. :)”
Right, Rhyme’s Reaper friend who communicates via text. “Same to you. I’m surprised to see anyone else around here,” he says.
“Rhyme and I are meeting up later to exchange parts, and also ideas, for Shinjuku’s restoration! There are some things we simply can’t fabricate in the UG, and we can’t have them delivered to a city that doesn’t exist. Rhyme offered to have them delivered to their home, and bring them here.”
Neku smiles. “That’s Rhyme for you. Is the restoration going well?” He can’t imagine spending much time in Shinjuku even after it’s restored – the last three years left some scars – but he’s glad to hear it’ll exist again, in some form, at some point. For the Reapers, if no one else. (For all that Josh complains about being understaffed again, Neku’s pretty sure he’s happy they’re gone, too. Josh didn’t think highly of Shiba.)
“As well as can be expected, with so much to rebuild. It will probably be some time before the city is truly accessible from even the UG. :( But all of us are working hard,” Kaie texts.
Joshua hasn’t said anything, just smiled. Neku guesses he’s not advertising who he is today. "Well, good luck," he says, going for the tables. He pulls out a chair.
“Aww, Neku, you’re too sweet,” Josh says, sitting down. Neku just rolls his eyes and smiles before taking the seat across from him. "Apart from that, how's your week been going? Anyone else I need to kill for you?" It's a joke, except for all the ways it isn't.
"Please don’t kill anyone for me. My professor thinks my composition’s technically sound, he just doesn’t like it personally,” Neku says. He likes Josh. He likes dating Josh. But Neku admits, sometimes it feels like he’s also doing the people of Shibuya a public service by being there to talk its Composer out of terrible ideas, like ‘murdering anyone who inconveniences Neku’. (Mr. H certainly considers it one. Which is why he always makes Josh pay.)
“Proving he has horrible taste,” he says, as though Josh has ever listened to Neku play. (Well, okay, he probably has, but not in person. He hasn't asked, and Neku wants the first time he plays for Josh to be special anyway.) "But since you insist..."
Neku grins. "I'll tell you what. If I'm ever in serious trouble again, I'll help you hide the bodies once you're done." Not that he's likely to get into RG trouble - Shibuya likes him too much. Anything that poses an actual threat to Neku is probably dangerous enough to deserve the wrath of a protective demigod with too few chances to show his powers off. Which Josh knows.
But he smirks back. "I'll hold you to that, Partner."
"And your... well, last two days since we hung out?" Josh can't always make their regular meetups, but he was at Sunday's.
Joshua smirks. "There's a colleague I actually like in town. He'll be here for a few days."
"A colleague you like, huh?" Neku asks. From what little he's heard about the rest of the local Higher Planar makeup, that's pretty rare. (Aside from Mr. H, anyway, but none of them count him.) "Maybe you should introduce me."
Joshua giggles. "Maybe I should. But I'll warn you, he's a bit of a copycat." Neku must look confused at that, because he continues. "Changes his hairstyle every time I do, starts dating a human after I started dating you... You know how it is." No, Neku doesn’t. But he’ll take Josh’s word for it.
Mr. H brings out their usual coffee and, as usual, Josh tries to talk Mr. H out of putting it on his tab. But they're finally on semi-good terms again, so Neku just watches the show, and looks out at the street for anyone who actually recognizes the coffee shop is open. (Neku has questions about how Mr. H affords the cost of ingredients, CAT or not. Neku's pretty sure most of the money he made as CAT just funneled back into the Game, anyway.)
He's not surprised to see Rindo notice it - Neku and his friends seem exempt from whatever mass Imprint Mr. H must have cast on the store, to make people in the RG ignore it. And he's not that surprised to see Rindo’s with someone, a blond boy who's slightly taller than him and looks a bit like Josh. Rindo had mentioned he's been texting someone lately. He is surprised when they walk in to see Rindo's eyes widen, and hear him exclaim "You!" and then run towards Joshua and try to punch him.
His hand freezes right in front of Josh’s nose, and Neku just sighs. “So you’ve met, then,” he says. Josh looks affronted.
“Is that the new trend in greetings? Am I expected to punch you now?” Rindo's mysterious maybe-boyfriend asks Neku.
“No. He just inspires that in some people,” Neku says. Especially the first time they meet him... and, okay, sometimes Beat and Shiki still want to punch Josh in the face, but not as often these days. They bonded, missing Neku together.
“Hey,” Joshua says, frowning. Rindo’s fist is still hovering, frozen, right in front of him, while Rindo looks shocked. “I’m not that bad.”
“Yes you are,” Mr. H says from the counter. “Hello, Mikagi. I’d say it’s good to see you again, but I’d be lying.” That... confuses things, and clears up this guy’s resemblance to Josh at the same time. Copycat, huh.
“You could have done a lot worse in parole officers and you know it. It could have been Amamiya,” Josh says mildly. Rindo’s hand falls, fist breaking, and Rindo stares in surprise. “Lesson learned, Rindo?”
“You – Neku, what are you doing here with this asshole?” Rindo asks.
“Getting coffee,” Neku says. “So, what did he do?” Josh is still smiling, which means this is probably a trap. He's just wondering who the trap is for.
“I’m the reason why Shoka’s back in the RG instead of being erased,” Joshua says. “So a little gratitude would be appreciated.”
“He made Shoka disappear, and then she found herself in some alley in the RG with no idea what was going on!” Rindo says. Yep, that sounds like Josh alright.
"I always wake up face-down in the middle of the Scramble," Neku says. Sometimes he wakes up there in his dreams.
Mikagi looks at Neku. “So, you’re the human consort,” he says.
“I prefer the term ‘boyfriend’,” Neku says. Interesting phrasing. “Neku Sakuraba. You?” he asks the person who is obviously an Angel of some variety.
“Hazuki Mikagi,” he says. “You can call me Haz.”
“You can stop copying me whenever you want. It’ll never catch on,” Josh says. "So, what are you doing here?”
Rindo glares. “We were on a date.”
“What a coincidence! So were we, before you started assaulting people." He's still smiling. That's not so much a warning sign as a blaring alarm siren, under the circumstances.
Hazuki seems unbothered, which is… interesting, given Neku’s pretty sure this is the colleague Josh likes. “May we sit down?”
“Neku, you’re dating this asshole?!” Rindo asks.
Neku shrugs. “It’s a long, complicated story.”
“Which I'd like to hear," Hazuki says, taking the lack of response as a ‘yes’. "The version he told me doesn't make sense."
Rindo stands long enough to reassess all his life choices before he finally sits down. "I should have known you knew him, Haz." He glares at Joshua at that.
"I could hardly enter his territory without his permission," Hazuki says. "Even without a city, I'm still a Composer."
A Shinjuku Reaper’s in town. Joshua called him a copycat. Rindo’s dating him, and there’s only so many ways he would have met an Angel. Neku hears the trap slam shut as he asks, "Wait, is he Shinjuku's Composer?!"
--
Kaie: Rhyme, I’m afraid we’ll have to reschedule. :(
Rhyme: oh no! why’s that?
Kaie: I went to that café you suggested early. It’s a nice place!
But while I was there, Neku Sakuraba showed up with his boyfriend. Did you know he’s dating Shibuya’s Composer?
Rhyme: yeah, he kind of gave me the job.
but neku’s super chill and josh won’t give you trouble if you don’t give him any trouble.
at least when neku’s around. he’s a good influence.
Kaie: Yes, but while they were there, they were interrupted by Rindo Kanade and his boyfriend.
Who appears to be my Composer.
Rhyme: :o!
Kaie: Rindo tried to punch Shibuya’s Composer in the face, and now Neku is yelling things at my Composer.
Rhyme: yeah that sounds… unsafe.
sorry i didn’t get there first. it sounds like the most entertaining thing to happen this month.
Kaie: I don’t think they notice me.
I could stay and provide updates?
Rhyme: do that and you will have my gratitude and finest bunny memes forever.
i'll add you to the group chat!
--
“What do you mean I can do better than my boyfriend?” Rindo asks. “Yours is a smarmy, condescending, cryptic asshole!”
“Yeah, and I like all of that about him,” Neku says. He really is sweet. “Yours wiped an entire city out of existence! Hundreds of thousands of people died!”
“I don’t understand. You’re dating Joshua, are you not?” Hazuki asks. “He wanted to destroy Shibuya.”
“Yeah, but the important part is that he didn’t,” Neku says. Rindo stares in shock.
“Also, I only wanted to destroy mine. Wiping it from reality was all your move,” Joshua says, sipping his coffee. “You always went above and beyond, didn’t you?”
“I don’t appreciate that,” Hazuki says.
“I didn’t expect you to.” Meanwhile, Rindo appears to have finally processed who the Legendary Player saved Shibuya from, because now the insults come out.
“You could help,” Hazuki says.
Joshua shrugs. “Frankly, it’s a good thing Neku can still hate people. He’s friends with the Reaper who killed him, can you believe that?” Hazuki just looks blankly at him. “I was starting to worry we’d broken him.”
If he’s being honest with himself, Joshua’s here for chaos. Well, okay, Joshua was here for coffee, and a perfectly fine Tuesday with his boyfriend, but then Rindo and Hazuki were on their way and honestly, is he supposed to ignore an opportunity when it presents itself? Neku knows who he's dating. This isn't exactly fair to him, but it's only a matter of time before he stops enjoying Joshua's antics and realizes he can do better. Joshua's met the other options. This is just speeding it up. Besides, he is glad Neku can still do unconditional anger.
And Hazuki - it was fun, at first, having a Composer who was younger than him, having him follow after wherever Joshua went. Even when Hazuki made a mess, it was still kind of flattering that he thought Joshua was worth looking up to. But it's not fun anymore, it's not flattering, and he did technically endanger Joshua's entire district, even if Joshua’s glad he did. None of them would have been in danger, Shibuya or Neku, if Hazuki hadn't called an overzealous Executor down to this plane in the first place and stirred up the purification faction again in the process.
As to Rindo... Technically, he's as responsible for his second Proxy as his first, even if on paper that responsibility is "none whatsoever". And Joshua's not sure if Hazuki's dating Rindo because he likes Rindo, or because he's trying to see what all the fuss is after Joshua started dating Neku. Put that way, he's just looking out for Rindo's best interests. And maybe Rindo could do to have his hero worship of Neku shaken a bit. They should both be thanking him. (And if a little part of him is jealous that Hazuki and Rindo are having the adorable adolescent courtship that Joshua fantasized about once, that Neku got killed again before he could even think about trying, it's buried under too many other motives to ever be unearthed.)
So, chaos. Joshua takes another sip of his coffee and lets Rindo call him an insufferable, irresponsible jackass. He's heard worse.
--
KaieOno: I’m sure he’s fine with *you* using his name, but that seems overly-familiar for me! Also, he’s very close and I'm in his city and he just made eye contact with me and winked.
Rindo just paused to take a breath and Shibuya just smiled and said “feel better?” Neku and Shinjuku both said “Don’t taunt him” but in very different tones of voice. Neku is glaring at Shinjuku, who seems confused.
TheBeatIsOn: dude save urself
Shikitty: no no no no no! do NOT. under ANY circumstances. leave that coffee shop.
Fret: plz!!!! stay there! we need details!
Swallow: what's going on here?
just got off shift x x
Fret: rindo n neku r on a double date!
only ther boyfriends r both composers i guess
TheBeatIsOn: n turns out neku dont like shinjukus composer
n rindo dont like priss
Swallow: wait. rindo's dating who?!
Fret: u met him
that haz guy
member
Swallow: yeah but i didn't know he was shinjuku's composer!
that's my ex boss! i think hes still shiba's boss! he's the gm's boss's boss! and he didn't tell me any of that!
EleStraniac: It is disconcerting that we could meet someone of his stature and not know.
Shikitty: u get used 2 it
josh isnt so bad wen u get 2 kno him
RhymeAndReason: yeah but he also. didn't destroy a city. so there's that.
KaieOno: The proprietor has brought me to the back and given me a donut for my service to the UG. Meanwhile, Rindo has just asked Neku how he can date someone who let him get erased.
TheBeatIsOn: oh rindo bro
Shikitty: first time?
RhymeAndReason: a cold and a broken ‘lmao.’
EleStraniac: i shudder to know what tragedy you all refer to
Shikitty: knowing josh? hes about 2 say it.
--
“Honestly, I’ve been wondering that myself,” Mikagi says, before Neku or Joshua can respond. “Or rather, I was surprised when you seemed to actually care about this one, afterwards.” He directs that to Josh.
Neku just sighs and looks over at Josh. “Really?”
“I mean, I wasn’t happy about it,” Josh says, shrugging. “But the rules we’d set were very clear. I couldn’t interfere once I’d chosen a Proxy, no loopholes like last time, and he was thorough about it. Trust me, I looked.”
Neku shakes his head. “This is like when you shot me again after I’d already put the gun down, isn’t it,” he says, sitting down again. If there’s one thing Joshua actually takes seriously, it’s the rules of whatever messed-up game he’s concocted this time.
“After he what?!” Rindo asks. Interestingly, Mikagi looks pretty surprised, too. It's the first time he's broken from his knock-off version of Josh's smirk.
“Shot me. Again. I never got a special pin to enter the UG, I just got murdered,” Neku says.
“Yes, we all know about that, what do you mean about a gun?” Mikagi asks.
“I didn’t!” Rindo exclaims.
Neku had been assuming he was the one in the trap. If it’s actually both of them… “Josh challenged me to a shootout for our last Game. Unfaked his death, froze my friends, erased his Conductor in front of me, told me he actually killed me so he could use me in his plan to destroy Shibuya, and if I wanted to stop him, here’s a gun, fire on ten, and then he started counting.” Is this what it feels like when Josh does it? Because from the way Mikagi’s looking back and forth at both of them now, Neku’s gotta admit, it is kind of fun.
“That was a test, obviously,” Mikagi says. “Right?”
“I could decide if the bullet hit me or not when I actually saw it,” Josh says. Which is actually slightly less suicidal than the last time Neku heard him tell it, and somehow no less awful. “Of course, then he didn’t fire at all.”
Mikagi is actually speechless.
From the counter, Mr. H just barks out a laugh. “Why do you think I glossed it over in my reports? ‘I just witnessed one of the most collateral damage-laden suicide attempts in human history. City’s fine now.’ That would’ve gone over well.”
Rindo’s face goes through three distinct stages of ‘appalled’. “Everything you just said was so horrible, I don’t know where to start,” he says after a full minute of silence.
Neku shrugs. “Yeah, that was my reaction when it happened, too. Then he shot me again.”
“I did say whoever won was the new Composer,” Josh says. “The Game had to end, one way or another.”
“And that’s why I’m saying this is like that, isn’t it.”
“I guess I can see the resemblance.” Hopefully that time, he was less suicidal about it. Then again, that might be why Josh has been more forthcoming about banishing Neku to Shinjuku for three years than talking about Rindo’s time travel. Or for that matter, what Josh was doing during those three years. Neku’s gotten all the details he has out of the others, and they don’t know much.
“You – you never told me any of that!” Mikagi exclaims, turning on Josh. “All you said was ‘Neku won our last Game after all.’ And I couldn’t make sense of that with Hanekoma’s report –“
“Because officially, I lost, because I didn't shoot him,” Neku continues. It’s really satisfying seeing Mikagi’s face every time he says that. “You ever heard the one about how the only winning move is not to play?”
“Neku… why the hell are you dating him?” Rindo asks. “Actually, forget that, why didn’t you shoot him?”
“A question we have all been asking ourselves for the last three and a half years,” Mr. H says, "some of us daily."
“Speak for yourself,” Neku says.
“You’re the only one who hasn’t. I have, Beat and Shiki have. Rhyme got a sense of your emotions at the time and they still question your judgment,” Joshua says.
“It was complicated,” Neku says. “He hurt me, a lot, but it only hurt because I liked him. Even when I thought he killed me, a part of me wanted to trust him.”
“He did kill you,” Rindo says.
“Yeah, but there was this whole period where I thought he did but I didn’t know. Then I got part of my memories back and thought Minamimoto did it, and right after that Josh faked his death. I felt guilty for a week because I'd spent half the week accusing him. It was a whole thing,” Neku says. “So you know, there was that on top of it. And he wanted me to kill him, too. Why would I want to go along with that?”
“Because if you didn’t, I’d destroy Shibuya,” Joshua says. “It should have been an easy choice.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t.” And even if he and Josh are going to have a talk later - and really probably more like three - he's still glad he didn't. And not just because being Composer sounds awful.
--
KaieOno: Rindo: “That was all so horrible I don’t know where to start.” I’m inclined to agree. :(
TheBeatIsOn: yea we get u
RhymeAndReason: if you want to talk about it we can meet up for dinner. i still need to drop those parts off anyway.
Shikitty: my treat! :3
KaieOno: Thank you all. I may take you up on that offer later.
--
“So, now that we’ve gone over our entire meet cute,” Shibuya’s Composer says, “you haven’t said anything about how you two got together. How’d that happen?”
Rindo’s not sure how to answer that. Rindo’s not sure what you do when someone calls shooting someone twice a ‘meet cute’. But Haz isn’t talking, so he guesses it’s his job. “He helped me out at the end of the Game, after, you know, everyone else got erased?” he scowls at Kiryu.
“Well, sorry I couldn’t put a handful of people over the safety of Shibuya. That’s his job,” Kiryu says, gesturing to Neku.
“You tried to destroy it!” Rindo exclaims.
“Three years ago,” Kiryu says, like that makes it better. Rindo’s life’s changed more in the last three months than it did in the three years before the Game. “Anyway?”
Rindo glares at him. “He gave me one more chance to turn back time. After he got rid of Kubo. And then we met up again the next time he was in town, about a month after the Game. He gave me his number, we texted back and forth for a while, we decided to go out. You know, the normal way.”
“It’s not like we consider all that our first date,” Neku says. “He invited me to go shopping with him once I got home. I asked him to coffee. We kept getting coffee. We had a pretty normal hanging out to dating progression.”
“Except for the part where he shot you twice,” Rindo says.
“It’s hard to meet people in our line of work,” Kiryu says. “Do you count ‘imperiling the city again’ as your first date? You did give him that tour.” So Kiryu knew Haz was there, and he didn’t do anything. So he really shouldn't be saying anything, either.
Haz looks over at Rindo. “Does that count?” Rindo shakes his head. Haz hasn’t ever dated before, and he doesn’t know much about people in general. Rindo’s his frame of reference. “No.”
“If you care so much about Neku, why didn’t you do it?” Rindo asks. “You seem pretty ungrateful to the guy who saved your boyfriend and your city. We wouldn’t have had a chance if Kubo were still around.”
“I already told you I couldn’t interfere,” Kiryu says.
Some excuse. Rindo looks over at Neku, who’s been way too calm about the murder thing even by Neku’s standards. “This guy doesn’t care about you,” he says. “You can do better than someone who shoots you and leaves you to get erased. People who actually like you.”
For the first time in this whole disaster, Kiryu drops his stupid smirk. “You don’t understand, Rindo. I couldn’t interfere. If I so much as breathed in your direction, the Game was forfeit and Shibuya would be wiped from existence, and there were more eyes than Kubo’s on me making sure that I didn’t. Hazuki was allowed to act. I was bound.” His voice is cold. Actually, the whole room feels colder, now. “You made the right decision, and saved the city, and for that you have my thanks. But you do not get to question my feelings for Neku based off that. I couldn’t choose Neku over the city in the face of certain Inversion. But I chose him for the three years leading up to it, and I will not allow it to happen ever again.”
“J, knock it off,” Barista Guy says. Rindo still doesn’t know what his deal is. “You're the one who picked him, and he did save the city. Cut him a break." Neku groans, and Rindo thinks he hears him murmur 'I knew it'.
“What does he mean, 'picked me'?” Rindo asks.
“When people like them play games, they can’t get involved directly,” Neku says. “They pick someone to be their representative and drag them into the Game. That Kubo guy picked Shiba, and Josh picked you, like he picked me last time.”
And last time, 'drag them into the Game' meant murdering Neku. “And you knew this?”
“I could guess,” Neku says. “Especially with that power of yours. It didn’t fit the others. It wasn’t safe.”
“You - how are you so calm about that?” Rindo asks. How is it that Neku got angry about Haz, but he's not angry about what this guy did to him?
Neku shrugs. “I’ve had three years to get used to it. And if I hadn’t Played, I’d never have met my friends. I… kind of needed the Game, to figure some things out.”
Rindo remembers the moment Haz said he’d leave things as they were, and how it finally clicked. He remembers how he and Fret hanging out had just been a thing to do before, and how much more fun the city is now, no matter who he’s with. How it's easier for him to make a decision now. But he also remembers all the people who got erased, and spending three weeks being terrified, and all the fates he had to change. He’s not sure it’s worth it. “It’s still messed up,” he says. “Especially because you’re dating him. How do you know he’s not still using you?”
“I trust him,” Neku says. “Josh didn’t destroy the city. He put me and all my friends back. And when he played again, he was on Shibuya’s side. He trusted you to save it.”
“Because he couldn’t do it himself,” Rindo says.
“Yeah, well, it’s more than yours did,” Neku says.
“I don’t understand why you’re so hostile,” Haz says. “You were erased. I gave Rindo the chance to bring you back. Shouldn’t you be grateful for that?”
Neku looks like he’s trying to glare Haz to death. “You don’t understand," he says flatly.
“I just told you I didn’t.” Haz just seems confused.
“Do you have any idea where I spent the last three years?” Neku snarls.
“I had heard it was Shinjuku,” Haz says. “I don't see how it's related.”
“It's related because I had a lot of time stuck in the hellscape you made! For three years I was alone with the remains of every Soul in Shinjuku!” Rindo’s never heard Neku so loud.
“Then you were hardly alone,” Haz says.
“They were fragments. Stray thoughts, pieces of identity, but not enough to make an actual person," Neku says. "I recorded as many as I could and I know I missed some, and I hate that, because they were people and they mattered. And no one else even remembers they existed because of you." Haz just blinks. Kiryu looks at his coffee cup. That's got to have gone cold by now.
"It's being reconstructed now," Haz says.
"Will that bring the people who lived there back? Those Souls couldn't hold themselves together," Neku says.
"We aren't sure yet," Haz says. "No one's ever reversed an Inversion."
"Even if you do, you took years they'll never get back."
"They won't remember it."
"That doesn't make what you did go away," Neku says. "My parents don't remember I died either time, but I still did. And those memories... there's seams, sometimes, where they know something's wrong."
"I don't understand," Haz says. "You never met any of these people. Why do you care?"
"Because Phones here's a better person than the three of us combined," Barista Guy says. "The Game worked on him. Probably better than it's ever worked on anyone, given where he started. No offense, Phones."
"None taken," Neku says. "Even if I don't know them, they're still a person with their own thoughts and feelings. They still had people who cared about them. And since those people can't remember them, I will. For as long as I can, and as many as I can."
"Interesting," Haz says.
"That's really all you have to say for yourself?" Neku asks.
"Believe it or not, that's growth for him," Barista Guy says.
--
KaieOno: The situation is still... tense, but I think we may be done with the screaming.
The proprietor seems less concerned as well.
RhymeAndReason: oh good!
KaieOno: Neku is trying to convince Rindo he can do better. Rindo is insisting that it's none of his business.
I'm choosing not to pay attention to Shibuya and Shinjuku right now.
TheBeatIsOn: smart move
KaieOno: The proprietor has given me another donut but is also offering to let me use the side door. Would it be too early for dinner?
RhymeAndReason: not at all! you've done plenty.
Shikitty: yea i wasnt expecting u 2 get that much
n he is definitely... hinting
see u soon! just name what ur hungry 4
--
Hazuki is reasonably sure this is not how dates are supposed to go. He had never paid much attention to humans on dates when they came to Shinjuku, but he's sure they don't usually include large fights in which one half of another couple attempts to convince you to break up. Then again, his studies into human romance have been quite baffling, and he's seen quite a few where the couple fight frequently. Rindo says they're mostly fiction, but it would give precedent. Then again, they don't usually fight on the date itself.
"Is this typical?" he asks Joshua, who's watching his Proxies argue.
"No. It's the worst double date ever," he says, reheating his coffee. "They're probably going to keep at this for a while. So. How are things with you and Rindo?"
Hazuki isn't sure where that came from. "Is this what the humans call small talk? I still don't see the appeal," he says.
"No. This is me checking in on a former Proxy," Joshua says. "He's my responsibility, after all."
Hazuki chuckles. The sound's still unfamiliar to him. "You're the last person I'd expect talking about responsibilities, friend." Joshua has never taken Hazuki particularly seriously, but Joshua doesn’t take much of anything seriously. A reaction like the one when Rindo questioned his affection for Sakuraba is rare… But then, not even Hanekoma seemed to realize that Joshua had been protecting Sakuraba for so long. Hazuki had assumed he was another diversion of Joshua’s, not... whatever that implies. Maybe it’s that emotion called “love.”
Hazuki would have to ask him, and that would be entirely impolite with Rindo here. Joshua would turn the question around on Hazuki, and… Rindo fascinates Hazuki. He would have sworn the Lower Planes had nothing to offer, until the Game. Rindo is observant, and clever, and quite talkative via text. (Even if his typing style is unorthodox.) Rindo wants to show him what humanity has to offer, one concept at a time, and Hazuki finds it charming. But he wouldn’t call that “love”. He’s aware that that’s supposed to be the basis for romantic relationships, but Rindo had assured him when they started this arrangement a few months ago that things could be “casual.” Shinjuku’s restoration demands its Composer’s presence, after all, so Hazuki can only visit every month or so, while he checks in on Hanekoma. Still, it seems disrespectful to say he doesn’t love Rindo with him present, and lying is unthinkable.
Maybe someday he could feel it. Apparently there’s a process to the emotion. And looking at how close Joshua and Sakuraba are, even with Sakuraba’s annoyance… transposing that onto himself and Rindo… it might be interesting.
He thinks all of that, at a speed humans probably can’t measure, before Joshua says, “there’s a first time for anything, isn’t there?” Light and seemingly-carefree as normal. "I just want to make sure you know what you're doing with Rindo, before you both get in too deep."
"Like you and Sakuraba are?" he guesses.
"I had three years to consider what I was doing before I actually did it," Joshua says. "I've made a lot of people unhappy with my decisions. I decided I don't care. But I'm not so naïve as to think there won't be consequences." He smiles. "I was never popular in the Higher Planes, anyway."
"But I am. Is that what you're getting at?" Hazuki asks. Joshua nods. "You're warning me."
"I am. If Rindo truly means something to you, be prepared. They'll make you choose, your city or him," Joshua says, "and when you do, I probably won't be able to get you out of it the way you helped me."
"That's all? Rindo's far more interesting than Shinjuku ever was," Hazuki says.
Joshua smiles again. "Once, I would have thought the same thing." He looks back at his Proxies, who are still arguing. "Be careful who knows. Not everyone will take it well. And if you're not serious, let him go before you get him in trouble."
"Or else you'll get me in trouble, is that it?" Joshua just smiles in response. "I can manage my own matters, you know."
"But you wouldn't have met Rindo if he hadn't been my Proxy," he says. "Like I said, he's my responsibility."
"Who says I want you getting involved?" Rindo asks.
"Weren't you two arguing?" Joshua says.
"You're having a conversation right next to us," Sakuraba says. "I do have some survival instincts, you know."
"Seriously, though. I don't want you messing with my life," Rindo says. "I can handle myself."
"You don't want to deal with the Higher Planes on your own," Joshua says. "I'm just making sure you don't have to."
Rindo's about to say something when Hanekoma steps in. "Alright, I think this has gone on long enough. Everyone's said their piece, no one's changing their minds today. Time to get out. Mikagi, I'll see you tomorrow for our review."
Hanekoma may be his senior, but given his standing, he's hardly in a place to order Hazuki to do anything. He considers saying something, but the others are all getting up without complaint.
"We're talking," Sakuraba says to Joshua, linking their arms together.
"I expected that," Joshua replies.
"C'mon, Haz. Let's get out of here," Rindo says. "Neku... if you're really gonna date this guy, I hope you're happy."
He and Rindo begin their walk towards the train station, while Sakuraba and Joshua go the other way.
--
"Man, I don't know what Neku's deal was!" Rindo says as Haz walks him to the station. "If he's going to get on my case for dating you, why the heck is he dating that jerk?"
"I couldn't tell you," Haz says. "His mind is blocked to me."
"That's fine. I was just wondering," Rindo says.
"Ah," Haz says in that tone that says he doesn't really understand. "I admit, I don't think of Joshua as a 'jerk'. He was quite helpful to me as a new Composer."
"He didn't help save Shibuya, and then he got all huffy when I said he didn't," Rindo says.
"He does appear to be quite bitter about it," Haz says. "He was forbidden to act, though."
"Sure, but... You broke the rules, didn't you?" Rindo asks. "Shibuya would've been toast if it weren't for you."
"Observers are granted more freedom to intervene," Haz says, "and I was the one who called Kubo to this plane originally. I could decide when he overstepped."
That... Doesn't sound like a great system. "I still don't like him," Rindo says. "His attitude's terrible."
"I have heard that said about him before," Haz says. "Still. It's unusual for him to care as much about anything as he seems to care about Sakuraba."
"I guess they're pretty serious then, huh?" Rindo asks. Haz gives him a confused look. "About their relationship, I mean."
"Ah. As opposed to ours being 'casual', yes?" There Haz goes, doing the quotes again.
"Yeah," Rindo says. "Which I still don't mind. Don't worry about that."
"I wasn't," Haz says. "If you minded, I would be able to tell." Right. That's still a little weird to Rindo, but he figures any Player would be able to read his mind if they wanted to. He likes the thought of Haz reading it better than a stranger. And way better than Kiryu.
"Right. I guess it's easier for them to be serious about things, since Neku lives in Shibuya," Rindo says. Mostly he's thinking out loud.
"Would you want to be serious, if I were your local Composer?" Haz asks.
Rindo considers. "Not yet, I think. Maybe if we were dating for a while."
"Hm. I wouldn't mind being able to see you more often," Haz says. "You're more interesting than the Shinjuku restoration process."
"Thanks," Rindo says. "I wouldn't mind, either. Maybe when Shinjuku's restored, you could show me around. The way I did when we met, I mean."
"That might be troublesome. I'm not as familiar with the attractions of Shinjuku," Haz says. "But I suppose I could do some research before you come visit."
Right. Haz didn't do anything fun before Rindo. "We could figure them out together, then. It'll be fun."
Haz smiles. "That does sound more interesting than research."
"Exactly," Rindo says. Of course, he might actually remember things about Shinjuku when it's restored, instead of just knowing it vaguely as Haz's and Shoka's city. They still don't know how that will work. "You know, it's not too late out. How about we have that date anyway?"
"Hanekoma made it clear I was unwelcome in his establishment," Haz says. Hanekoma must be Barista Guy's name.
"Yeah, so we don't have it there. Hachiko Café's open," Rindo says, "or we can go someplace on Center Street. There's plenty of options."
"Alright," Haz says, smiling. "Lead the way."
Rindo does.
--
"Do you understand why I'm pissed off?" Neku asks, arms folded across his chest.
Joshua responds with the truth. "There are enough reasons I'm not sure which apply."
"Guess," Neku says. He's practically daring Joshua to read his mind, too, but Neku knows when he's doing it. Which is fun sometimes, but is clearly a test right now.
Because every grievance he has with Hazuki is built out of one that's unresolved with Joshua, he doesn't say. "I knew he was in town. I could have guessed you'd have issues with him."
Neku nods. "So did you just not think about how I'd take it, or did you just not care?"
"I considered it," he says. Neku just sighs. "Can we skip the talking and go straight to the crying about it stage? I'd rather just get it over with." The sooner it's over, the sooner Neku can go cry in the arms of his other Partners, who'll only be too happy he finally came to his senses, and the sooner Joshua can start trying to forget... everything.
"No, Josh, you don't get to skip a fight you've earned." Neku rolls his eyes. "Do I really mean that little to you?"
No. He means everything to Joshua, and even after this, Joshua knows he'd rather be erased than be forced to choose between Shibuya and Neku again. "Does it matter? I still did it," Joshua says.
Neku sighs again. "It matters to me. I don't want to be your toy, Josh. I want to be your Partner."
"You've mentioned," he says. It was one of the things Neku worried about before they were dating.
"Well, you weren't treating me like one today," Neku says. "So. Do I really mean that little to you? Or is there something else going on here?"
Joshua considers. It would be easy to act like he doesn't care, end it all. And it would be better for Neku to cut ties entirely. But Neku's good at knowing when he's hiding things... and he can't quite bear to lie that brazenly to Neku, anyway. "If you stay with me much longer, word's going to really get out that I'm dating a human," he says. "When it does... even when we break up, you'll have caught the Higher Planes' attention. Sanae likes you, and Hazuki likes me enough to try and see the appeal, but for most of the others... I can't say I trust them."
Neku puts the pieces together. "What do you mean, 'when' we break up?"
"Neku, I've met your other Partners. I like your other Partners. You could do so much better than me and we both know it."
"Have you considered that maybe I don't want to do better?" Neku asks. "Did you miss what I told Rindo? You're a smarmy, condescending, cryptic asshole, and I like that about you."
"It'll get old eventually," Joshua says. It always does.
"It will if you don't let me in," Neku says. "You know, I almost had fun with that?" That's not what Joshua expected, and it must show, because Neku continues, "Yeah. When I told them how our Game ended, the look on their faces? It was pretty good."
Joshua can't quite hide his smile. "That was... well. Hazuki earned that," Joshua says. "If he's going to keep imitating me, he could stand to learn why I did what I did."
"So you do this with all your friends?" Neku asks.
"... Not Shiki and the others," Joshua admits. "I know I used most of my chances with them already."
"But you don't mind taking chances with me?"
"Like I said. It'll get old eventually. Dragging it out longer will just make it worse."
Neku sighs. "Do you actually want to break up, or do you just feel like it's inevitable?"
"You haven't convinced me yet that it isn't."
Neku sits down next to him. Joshua lets him. He's too selfish to give up this closeness before he has to. "Mr. H was wrong, earlier." Joshua looks at him. "I mean... the Game worked on me, sure. But deep down, I'm still a bit of an asshole. Just... better about keeping that contained."
"And?"
"And right now, I'm mostly upset you didn't tell me because we could have messed with Mikagi as a team," Neku says. "Maybe that'd get through to Rindo."
"I doubt it. He's set on his little crush," Joshua says. "You really enjoyed that part?"
"You saw what he looked like. I was wondering if that's how you felt all the time," Neku says, and he can't help but smile as he says it. "I don't want to change back. But... I wouldn't mind the chance to cut loose a little sometimes."
There was a little time, back when the only thing stopping Neku from erasing Joshua was their Pact - was Shiki, really - where Joshua wondered what it'd be like to have him as a Conductor. Where he'd changed enough to be interesting, but hadn't yet shattered Joshua's Soul without doing him the favor of killing him. For some reason, hearing that from Neku brings him back to those thoughts. "Cut loose, huh?"
"If the Higher Planes are going to give us trouble, then let them," Neku says with a smirk. "They can't do worse to me than Shinjuku did. But I need us to be a team first."
Partners. Someone who can keep up with Joshua, if he tries. It's an appealing thought. "You know, according to most of the people Upstairs, I'm a hopeless pervert for dating a 'lower being'," he says.
"Oh, I so want to rub it in their faces," Neku says.
Joshua smiles back. "That's a terrible reason not to break up. We're never going to be able to explain it to the others."
"Who says they need to know? I don't tell Beat and Shiki every time we fight," he says. Joshua supposes that's true. They argue, sometimes, but that's more for fun than anything else. He might have underestimated how much fun Neku was having with those arguments. "Besides. I didn't want to break up in the first place. Do you?" He reaches up and brushes a strand of hair from Joshua's face.
Joshua can't help but lean in. "Never," he admits. "If I had my way, you'd never leave."
"So why do you keep pushing me away?" Neku asks, smiling.
"You know why." Somehow, it's easier to admit Neku knows him so well than it is to admit how terrified he is Neku will leave.
"I do." Neku kisses him, just long enough for Joshua to kiss back. "Try and trust me?"
Joshua's never had a defense for that one. He smiles back. "Trying, I think I can do."
--
KaieOno: Thank you once again for the meal, Shiki!
As well as for your excellent advice.
Shikitty: ne tym! :3
Swallow: will you be in town for a few days?
it'd be nice to catch up, too
KaieOno: I can stay through tomorrow. :)
Fret: i stil dunno wat was so bad bout nekus bf
RhymeAndReason: i'll tell the story at some point.
TheBeatIsOn: or make neku do it
Phonesless: Make me do what?
...
RhymeAndReason: whoops!
Shikitty: oh gr8
EleStraniac: Perhaps we should have chosen a separate group chat for this.
Phonesless: Rhyme, just for this, you're telling it
RhymeAndReason: i accept this punishment
totally worth it anyway ^^
Rindragon: w8
wat did i come back 2?