RikaCain

Neku had no clue to how it had arrived there. He had been cleaning out his closet, wincing at the amount of clothes that he had outgrown, when it dropped on his head out of nowhere. It was a slim paperback, the cover a faded black. The binding was still intact, save for a stray thread; there was nothing else, no markings, no design, no memories, zilch. Rubbing his head and thanking the Lord that it was not a hardback volume, Neku flipped it open... only to be greeted by blank pages paling brown with age. He blinked and tossed the notebook onto his desk, returning to the pile of clothes that was accumulating on the floor. Neku still had no

 Joshua had no idea why he bought it. Really, all he had been looking for was another novel to pass his time, having finished Paradise Lost by John Milton, along with Dante's Inferno. They were relatively interesting, but he had nevertheless finished both, and required a new source of entertainment. He hence found himself in one of Shibuya's bookstores, hidden away in the nook and crannies of one of its alleys; where discounts could be easily obtained with a few choice words. He ignored the musty stack of Japanese novels, having read all before, and proceeded directly to the back of the store. He could probably come across a couple of dec

Beat and Rhyme's reaction were... quite surprising. Rhyme cooed over the two, while Beat tried his best to not think too hard 'bout how Phones could have kids with a guy. By chowing down the last of Neku's instant curry, but really, that's all the small details. Neku, on the other hand, had expected Rhyme to stare long and hard at him; Beat to not even THINK about it, let alone be even aware. After all, Rhyme was the empathetic of the lot... "So, are you guy up for it? I already asked Shiki, but might as well ask you two too..." After she forced me into who knows how many outfits - Neku had stopped using 'God', considering that after he sa

Hanekoma Sanae was many things. For one, he was the owner of an usually empty cafe called WildKat, save for the few customers that dropped by (namely Players, Reapers and Joshua). For another, he was the widely known and renowned artist CAT, owner of Gatito and creator of the Udagawa tag mural; although his identity is kept a secret. Even fewer are aware that he was Shibuya's Producer, supervisor of the Composer's Games, and a fallen Angel to boot. So that was exactly why Neku went to him for answers, ranging from subjects pertaining to the UG to anger management when it came to dealing with a certain silver-haired Composer. After the ligh

 I first met him when he was twelve. Upon seeing me, his eyes shone, the deep blue reflecting nothing but sheer joy. I reached out and pushed back his spiky orange hair – I had a feeling I would be doing that a lot. His small warm hands clasped mine tightly, a wide grin plastered on his face the whole time. I watched as a smirk and a giggle confirmed the understanding that I was his. For the whole week, my hands would either be caressing his hair, or resting on his shoulder. Not that he minded, of course; he would often absent-mindedly touch back in return. By the end of the week, he stopped smiling. The smirks and giggles went a

Shiki's reaction was kind of expected. "Shii-chan really takes after you, Neku," she gushed away. "Shii-kun got your eyes though." Neku smiled wearily. Taking care of two babies that woke up at odd and irregular hours of both day and night, coupled with a Game Week, was taking its toll on him. Maybe he should ask Josh for a maternity leave...wait, what? "Neku? You okay?" "Huh?" His head jerked back up to look at Shiki's worried eyes. "Yeah, sorry. Was spacing out." Shiki giggled lightly. "Really, Neku. At the rate you're going, I'm going to think having kids is going to be a very bad idea." A snort of laughter. "How are you and Keisuke?

 The two new parents stood over the cots. "Well," Joshua mused, "this is a happy miscalculation." "So who's Shiku?" Neku groaned. He was concentrating very hard on refraining from asking Joshua how this could have happened. He wasn't too sure if he wanted to know. "That'll be the boy," came the reply. "How ironic. I left everything up to Shibuya, and she gives me twins..." "So the girl..." Neku brushed back a tuft of orange hair on the sleeping figure. So small, so fragile. Part of him was wondering whether this was nature's way of saying – ha! Sakuraba Neku, you ARE girlier than Joshua – but he didn't dwell too much on it. "H

 "So what are you going to name him?" Joshua sat on Neku's desk as the latter filled out countless of forms pertaining to the UG. He raised an eyebrow and giggled . "So eager? You'll make a fine mother, Neku." Neku glowered at Joshua. "I never said I'll be the mum, that's your role. You're girlier than me." "But Neku, you never seem to have a problem when I-" "Shut up, Josh! So what are you going to name him?" Joshua sighed. "Shiku," was the simple reply. "Shiku?" "Shiku." "Why?" "So that I don't have to worry too much if it turns to be a girl." Neku snorted. "Nice to know you have some shreds of responsibility." "I'm

 Neku was in another of his 'emo urges'-possessed mode. Again. "Hey Phones. What's with the long face?" Neku groaned. As much as Mr. H was his idol, CAT, he was hoping that Mr. H wouldn't talk to him. Because whenever's there was Mr. H, there was also- "Hee hee. Hello there, Blue." Joshua. After he 'introduced' the two to each other – they actually knew each other beforehand – whenever Neku dropped by WildKat, he was as sure as the sun rises that Joshua would already be there, or will come in several split-seconds later. At first he believed that it all boiled down to pure coincidence, but now? He was positive that Pink

 It was a fine day in Shibuya. The sun was out and shining, the full heat of the star absorbed by merry puffs of white. There was no Game going on, and why, there was almost next to no Noise in every area. Almost every area. The rest were huddled in front of a closed cafe located on Cat Street. "What. Did. You. Say?" The person whom the question was addressed to twirled a lock of hair around his finger and smirked. "As I said, Neku. My, wherever did your good listener ears fall off to?" Sakuraba Neku was fuming mad. A year ago, he had accepted Joshua's proposal to be his Conductor – provided that he could still see his family a