01110100 01100001 01100010 01101111 01101111

        Neku had always had a fairly easy time with context, putting puzzle pieces together, solving equations IF YOU WILL [a phrase he would have hated to use before Sho himself] but that was only if he had the proper tools to put it together. You wouldn’t have been able to solve that without me, a phrase he’d heard a number of times during the Game while he was still learning to trust. 

        Yes, other people usually had the information he needed to solve certain things and while he almost felt like that was the case here he wasn’t about to leave Sho without a SATISFYING answer if only to please HIMSELF by answering him.

      So put the pieces of the puzzles together, Neku. What use could Joshua get out of bringing Sho back to life? What missing piece could Sho fill? Where could he exist where Joshua could keep an even closer eye on the Grim Heaper who had a tendency to go rogue?

      His face drops as only one option surfaces in a sea of low grade Reapers and GM positions, the best place where Joshua could keep a man who wanted all of the power over the UG but someone like Joshua would only give him a FRACTION of, “He did NOT… You are NOT the Conductor are you?”

        AH --- THERE he goes   ( his holiness sure did pick a WINNER , so much smarter than your AVERAGE IDIOT ; bravo darling persephone )   getting a hole in one , hitting the nail right on the head ; a smile comes to his face , some form of bitter pride ; yes , that’s right , hades wrapped his cold fingers around the THROAT of daring icarus , ripped what remained of his WINGS right off his back --- fashioned PUPPET WIRE where wax & feathers once were. he was handed a CROWN made of silver , second best , second rate ; a second chance , whispered something sickeningly holy and with wounded PRIDE , did the DAMNED whisper back ‘ okay ’. 

        ❛ very good , radian ! ❜    of course he’s surprised , who wouldn’t be --- hearing that treason warrants a place among the gardens of eden , earns him a THRONE in the kingdom that is SHIBUYA , albeit a small one , highly unimpressive in comparison to that of their king.    ❛ the composer decided i was worth keepin’ around ; turns out tryin’ t’subtract someone can get you a promotion. ❜    

   HEART hammering, sweat dripping, and she awakes with only a silent gasp slipping past those now pale lips. It’s just a dream ( again—- the same dream ), but she holds her head in the dimly lit room, blinking. She wasn’t present for it; no, if she had been, she would be lying right there beside them. Then why—-why do the images play so vividly within her sleeping mind; these dreams brought to day if she nods for even a moment. A victim, left to waste away as a lonely soul, and tears welled before the memory of a familiar hand ( a safe hand ) rests on her shoulder as her own instinctively reaches for those who she’ll never see again. 

She pushes a stray strand behind her ear, a smile tugged at the thought of her now safe haven as she pulls her nearby beanie over a messy head. Gentle smile remains, and she wouldn’t dare let even a word slip of these nightmares that plague her sleep. She wouldn’t dare worry the soul who took her in in her time of need—- a family ( perhaps a big brother, but she’s still too nervous to address him as such ), and it’s not long until the dream is momentarily forgotten, feet dragging her towards the sound of the home’s life. 

❝Good morning,❞ Her smile grows, ❝I don’t mind waiting here with you.❞ Genuine, she enjoys being in his company, pulling a nearby chair. Of course, she’s no stranger in sharing solitude with him, and she merely nods at the mention of his father being an absentee in his own home. That she doesn’t mind, she’s only talked to him in passing every so often. ❝—-What are your plans for today?❞ It’s more so a mumble, her curiosity proving to be the better of her this morning, and she’s hopes it’s not selfish that she’s secretly hoping that she may spend even a few hours with him.

        she’s always been like this , even before . . . even before. well mannered , GRACIOUS in a way that is genuine , a way that is different from most people around them ; a KIND SOUL undeserving of her fate , of corpses where family once existed , of UNQUALIFIED guardian that can only hope to do his best. sweet girl , gentle girl ; he’s always liked rhyme --- too bad god , as it would seem , doesn’t feel the same. UNSURPRISING. big man upstairs has long since lost the worship of the ONCE DEVOUT , nothing but bitterness toward the concept of unconquerable king remaining ; she deserved better / they all deserved better. 

        ❛ mmn. nothin’ really. ❜    comes the response when asked of plans , honest in his answer ; there’s HOMEWORK   ( japanese . . . how dull , desolate boy always holding far more affinity for NUMBERS than WORDS )   but that , in theory shouldn’t take particularly long ; not due for another couple days anyway , & he’s more than happy to procrastinate a bit in favor of . . .    ❛ got a coupl’a art projects i was gonna work on but i gotta go out an’ get somethin’ before i can start on those. ❜    metal rods , a new blowtorch , few cans of spray paint . . . nothing particularly STRANGE , but his ‘ vision ’ can’t be completed without them. 

        there’s something knowing in the DEVIL’S SMILE ( his --- or yours ? ) as he stares down wannabe crowned , a fox who knows too much --- who SAYS he knows , anyhow , believes he does ; what’s a GOD to a NON BELIEVER , the foresight of the gods mean nothing here , and he BARES HIS FANGS in response ; he can taste the POWER on the horizon & you will not TAKE IT from him / he is STRONGER than you , he WILL HAVE YOUR THRONE. 

                                          ‘ ah , minamimoto. and here i almost thought you wouldn’t show , heehee. ’ 

         mocks FALSE GOD , ivory fingers pressed to lips as he stares down what he so wrongly perceives as PREY , confidence overflowing from mouth , from body language , from SOUL --- it’s insulting , & petite giggle is met with HARSH LAUGHTER ; so god damn full of yourself , so quick to think you cannot fall. WOLF steps closer , fingers flexing at sides , the urge to destroy HIGH ( is that you speaking --- or is it them ? / shut up , shut up , shut up ) and the SMILE that forms is sharp & cold. 

        ❛ HA --- ! ❜    it echoes , harsh sound to reverberate within DISGUSTING WALLS of glorified sewer ( who NAMES these damn tunnels ? ) ; wolf meets fox , gaze steady --- this is it.    ❛ lotta confidence for a lowly yoctogram ; heh --- you remember how fast i said i’d erase ya , right ? ❜    the SPEED OF LIGHT , he’d said ; time to put his money where his mouth is. ‘ 3.141592 . . . ’ deep breath / don’t let him see you falter. 

        the moon makes people sentimental --- or so he’s heard and it isn’t that they’re WRONG , he supposes , but they FAIL to mention anything about the early morning --- when all the sentiment turns to some dissonant churning in the bottom of your stomach , UNEASINESS & UNCERTAINTY both such lovely , familiar acquaintances of his. a frown , irritated little noise as he turns a dial on the stove top , setting it to simmer instead. 

        over a year now --- a year of a kid looking after another kid & while he doesn’t mind particularly , it’s . . . something , to say the least. he isn’t DAISUKENOJO , he isn’t HER PARENTS --- he’s a fuckin’ mess of a god damn teenage boy without a SINGLE DROP of blood relation to this girl. not that it matters , ‘ family ’ a pretty . . . abstract concept in his experience , but that’s not much of a comfort. ‘ you’re probably fuckin up ’ and he probably is. babysittin’ a kid for a few hours a week is one thing , but taking them in , RAISING them is another. his own fault ( fault ?  is that the word ?  maybe --- if she comes out broken , at least , FAULT is definitely the word ) really , offering to take her in --- no , insisting he do so. maybe he thought it would be TEMPORARY , maybe he thought it would be like babysitting but longer --- maybe he didn’t think at all. not that rhyme’s not well behaved at all times , but christ . . . he’s not sure he’s fit to be raising kids. 

there’s the sound of feet shuffling in , & he forces mind to tear itself from such . . . depressing thoughts.

“B E C A U S E the last time I saw Y O U was beneath a gigantic pile of cars and vending machines.” He had MEANT to keep that sort of commentary to himself but… As was commonplace with Neku it only lasted so long before it slipped. Defensive stance still holding but he notes that even now he hasn’t come to harm yet. Yeah, Sho had a tendency to SHOUT random strings of phrases at him [and at the time, his partner in the whole mess and the very creator of the situation, Josh] he was never quite this COLLECTED in Neku’s view.

He felt some of the tension edge away even if he did not move, “So how are you HERE?”

        ah , there it is --- that lovely little memory ( he knew you hadn’t FORGOTTEN ) shared by more people than he is truly COMFORTABLE with --- oh well. even icarus had an audience to his fall , onlooking fishermen & a heavy hearted father ; perhaps he should take some PRIDE in the knowledge that he could weave himself so INTRICATELY into the stories of old religion ( he doesn’t ). 

Things he hadn’t expected to see CRAWLING OUT OF THE SUPPOSED LAND OF THE DEAD: Sho Minamimoto. A math enthusiast who caused him numerous headaches through the entirety of his journey from the second week on. The biggest question for him was: Why was he HERE.

Neku stands in a defensive pose after the shock has warn off even though he has absolutely NOTHING worth defending himself against Sho’s capabilities. He always has the player pin pocketed which Joshua explained would keep him free of harm while he was within Shibuya’s barriers but he wasn’t a fan of relying on the complete idea that Joshua would simply SHOW UP in any type of scenario. 

“Yeah… And I didn’t expect to see you around at all.” He resisted the temptation to add ‘shouldn’t you be rotting beneath a truck and a vending machine right now?’… One thing he learned since leaving the UG was there was a time and a place for everything. This was not the time, nor the place, for anything that might PISS HIM OFF.

        he remembers , of course , understands what he means --- GRIM HEAPER buried by divinity in the filth that is the GOD DAMN sewers , body torn apart , infected , only to find efforts , SACRIFICE , all done in vain ; it isn’t a pleasant memory , the scent of SEWAGE still lingering like a ghost if he closes his eyes , the sensation of CRUSHED LUNGS & BROKEN BONES ---------- the feeling of destroyed pride seeping out around him. 

he should be a god / he should be a corpse. 

        & then their darling DIVINE gave him ‘ new purpose ’ , declared treason reason enough for punishment --- and promotion , giggle on his lips & something VILE in his smile as he’d appointed wannabe killer to stand BENEATH him , spoke of resentment as though it were a REDEEMING QUALITY. a strange turn of events but . . . oh well. better than bein’ a HARRIER ( still a fuckin’ waste however ; dying soul , contaminated soul , all for nothing )

『 024124 』

   THE days spent upon Alola’s islands passed like a dream; new Pokémon, trials, and strong trainers all lurked on each. Amongst his own partners has Red grown stronger himself ( both mentally and physically ), their fate in one another growing stronger with each step. Thirty-two days, he’d note; such a task tedious to the Fighter, but he keeps track solely for the fact of a strange feeling that has followed him every step of the way. The feeling, however, had proved to be especially strong today—- perhaps a Pokémon… one of the island guardians he had heard so much about. Heh, the mere thought of such an encounter caused a burst of excitement to spread through his body. 

❝You can come out! M’Not gonna hurt you!❞ He’d call out, uncaring to whether or not anyone else was around to see him seemingly talking to himself. They’d call him crazy, not that he’d care, yet he begun to think of himself crazy with no response to his call. Yet, maybe he isn’t crazy, the cosmic Pokémon timidly beginning to make its way towards the Fighter. Thus does a friendly grin tug at his lips, the Pokémon shy yet curious as it comes closer towards the trainer. Upon his shoulder does Pika look on with fascination, his ears twitching as the unknown Pokémon inched closer and closer.

        needy boy , validation fueled MARIONETTE with puppet strings tangled in his joints , ‘round his neck , so easily MANIPULATED by deceptive smiles & acknowledgement --- ‘ we need you ’ lioness had purred , pride echoing her SWEET VENOM and he knows ( he knows , he knows , he does ) somewhere INSIDE that he is being used --- but ‘tis better to rot in some ways than others , desire be remembered , desire to be great ; he’ll take it over a nameless grave , or a MEMORY in the head of another as math freak , loud passerby. 

                          & perhaps one day , he could climb higher ( darling hide your CROWN ) 

        he still does not listen well , but today . . . he has , though it is not an entirely selfless act , CURIOSITY just as much as ORDERS bringing him here , searching for ‘ cosmog ’ as it is called --- beautiful pokemon , in THEORY , evolution different from the norm , genetic makeup a deviation meaning it is an far more interesting equation than the norm , thus . . . interest. thus travel. thus . . . here. 

this is going to get a little long but !! here we go. i’m gonna list symptoms then explain each one in a list - like fashion ?? as my way of organizing my thoughts so !! 

        he knows him / him knows he ; [un]lucky player thrice thrust into the fray of life or death , weight of a city on his shoulders , unknowingly , unknowingly --- & he survived , endured , now lives ( composer’s favorite pet , yeah ? he’s cute , he’ll give him that ) in a form of reincarnation absolutely unauthorized. ha --- how good for him. ‘ off limits ’ yeah , yeah , exasperation meets thoughts within own mind ; as if he’d wanted a fight anyway.