81. Pen and Paper pt. 2

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 clue to how a notebook wound up in his closet.



"Ugh... I never want to do Maths EVER AGAIN..." Neku grumbled as he shuffled into his room, flinging his bag onto his bed. "Stupid tuition teacher..."

Neku grabbed the closest notebook he could reach for and plonked himself down onto his chair. "Now where's that worksheet..."

He scribbled questions, answers and workings down with a fury, music spilling out from his headphones-

Then he got stumped.

He stared at the offending question half-heartedly, slightly aware that it was the notebook he found a few days ago. Pen poised, brains whirring, eyes drilling a hole through the paper; but still the answer did not surface.

Or at least, the method.

Then, to his bemusement, an elegant '2a' printed itself out.

Neku gaped, dumbfounded. Beat? No, wait. Too dumb. Rhyme wouldn't pull such a trick even if she was in the mood. That left Shiki and Eri... even if they were away in Osaka.

And who could forget - his brain. Too much stress, that must be it. Too much work.

But still...

Neku scribbled down another question, now waiting with bated breath. If his brains weren't playing tricks-

'2x + 1. Really, now. I'm not a calculator, you know.'

Neku fumbled with his pen. Maybe Shiki and Eri were out of the question... 'Oh.' What should he say, who? What? Where?

'Who are you?'

'My name is Virgil.'

Virgil? That was obviously a pseudonym. Either that, or his parents (or creator) was crazy and weird enough to name their kid after a Devil May Cry character.

'Nice name.' He scribbled back.

'Thank you. What's yours?'

His? Pseudonym or...? No, Shiki might be recording this just for kicks. Don't want to seem paranoid.

'Neku. Sakuraba Neku.'

'Charming. Nice to meet you, Neku.'

'Nice to meet you too, Virgil.'

'I take that I'm talking to you through a notebook?'

Neku blinked. Shi-

'How did you know?'

'The sums, Neku.'

Neku could almost hear the mocking tone of the words. Almost. Time to regain some dignity.

'So I'm a notebook to you too?'

'Yes.'

Huh. 'Cool. So you're not Shiki playing a trick on me?'

'Apparently so. Who's Shiki?'

'A...' Neku's pen trailed. Classmate? Partner? 'Friend.'

'Girlfriend?'

'No.' A blush crept up his face.

'That was quick. There's no need to get flustered now.'

He was not... ugh. Book. 'I am NOT flustered.'

'Whatever you say.'

What now... Ah. 'So do you have a girlfriend?'

'No. I'm gay.'

Wait, what? 'Serious?'

'No.'

He could almost believe Shiki was laughing at him somewhere along with Eri and Beat. 'You're definitely not Shiki, right...?'

'I'm not. Is Shiki gay?'

How did he come to THAT conclusion?! 'NO!'

'Hee hee. Are you sure?'

Neku shuddered. He did NOT want to go down that train of thoughts. 'Just... drop it, Virgil.'

'Yessir.'

Neku sighed. He read through the conversation he just had... and maybe, it wasn't Shiki ater all. Maybe he had acquired a new friend.

Well... at least he had someone to talk- no, write to during class. He hoped.