Ind. Sel. Neku Sakuraba., connected and loved by Mikey.

=̶̢͚̼̞̪͍͍̩͓̊̓̎̚≠̫̯͓͉̪̬͖̮̃̇̅=̶̛̬̼̗̙́̃͆̃́̈́̍̽͠=̷̢̱̤̪̀̇̾͜=̵̡̩̣͔̬̖̲̑̈́̀̇̇̃̑͌≠̧̫͕̗̘͔̬̰̫̇≠̢͇̣̗̫͖̓̎̇͜ͅ=̵̨̝̞͉̜͕͓̾̐̔̔͂̓̌́̕͝=̷̝̮͂̈́=̵͇͙̩̘̓̈́̾=̴̼̪̽̂̋̀̐͗̒́̓͝≠̨̢͓̙̟͕͙̘͆͌́̒̔̃͛=̶̱̦͕͈͗̇͘͘=̷̢̧͎̗̯̈́͗͘=̷̯̭͚̗̋͌͑̾͒͝͝=̴̡̙̳̣͍̼̭̤̀͘ͅ=̷̬͖͖͐̈̆̓=̵̺̰̦̬͉̳̙͔͕̾͜=̴̡̛̒=̴̨̹̩͈̞͔̫̟̬͑̈́̇͐̚=̶̡̘̞̙̓̉̾̆͗̽ͅ=̷̧̦̠̬̙͔͕̲͖̅́͐̓̊=̷̺̞̪͔̳͒̒=̴̲̉̿́̑͋͂̈̆̕͝=̷̗͓̹̭̖̒̍=̵̯͇̼̻̝͖͐̈̄͒̋̉͌͝ͅ≠̨̢̯͙̭͎̲̪̘̝͋̓̿̂͋̿̉̒̔≠͙͈̘͈͍̣̽͜≠̢̺̝͓̠͓͔̗̂͛͜≠̟͎͓̟͕͎͌̇=̵̦͎̆̋̋̂͒̕͝͠͝ͅ=̶̡̣̘̫̩̖͇͔̝̆́̒͂͝=̶̧̪̣͚̼͂͌̆͆̈́͑͊̉͜=̵̜̲͋̇͐̈́̈́̓̿̉=̵͉̱̼̩̮̤͋͊̚=̷̢̫̩̫̬̦̱̠̫̔ͅ=̶̨̲̗̹̯̻̭̲̂̆͂̈́͋̈́͘̕͝͝ͅ=̵̢̢̦̼̈̐̓̏̀̚͝=̴̬̲̱̲͇̹̈́̋͂̀̐̂̌=̴̨͕̤̗̰͙̱̮͆̇̇́̽̆͂̒̕ͅ≠̡̨͍̞̜̹̗̭͚̿͂̀̓̓̇͌͝ͅ=̶̹͑̌̃́=̷̧̹̺͔̫͉͇͔̝͐̃̀͌̕͝͝=̶̧͛̇͆͌͗̽͆͋̃̕=̷̧̨͚̠͉̤̯̒̅̊=̴̛̭̳̹̯͈̰͇̈́̓̑̎̿=̷̘̹̦̃ 

     Neku asked: “What’s your angle?” Neku held out  his hand, his eyes full of wariness and caution… “Is there something you have planning in the background?”

          What was Neku even trying to ask? ❝ What is my angle? Are you trying to level yourself with me Digit? ❞ He was now looking over his shoulder at the other, just seemed to be standing in his light of his work. ❝ But you, of all people, should know the answer to that. Right now I’m gathering information. ❞

“Gathering information for what?” He stepped forward, holding a hand upwards. His hand was clenched into a fist. “Are you trying to attack Joshua again?” ... “You want so badly to become the Composer. Why?” He relaxed a little bit, putting his hand down. It was confusing to him....

“It has.”

How interesting, seeing Neku again after all this time. Burnt orange eyes watched Neku seemed to dither a little over what to actually say to him. He’d seemed so self-assured last time, or perhaps, he only knew how to be confident in the context of the Reaper’s Game.

Shiba didn’t know. 

“Shinjuku is coming along as well as it can. You saw it’s UG for yourself, didn’t you? It… may take a while before it’s boundaries have been reset.”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s been a couple of years since Shinjuku was Inverted.” He takes a pause before continuing, closing his eyes and nodding solemnly. 

FEELING THINGS | Accepting

@newworldbegins​ asked :  ❛ can someone please be proud of me? like fuck, i’m trying. ❜

     Beat was a little surprised hearing the outburst– almost out of nowhere. Though it wasn’t like he didn’t understand the feeling all too well. Before his own stupid actions that had gotten he and Rhyme killed and sent to the UG. All that time spent with the same build up, the same words crying out in his head to just be SEEN and for someone to finally be PROUD of the things he could do instead of focusing in on the things that he couldn’t. 

     “Yo, you al’ight, Phones?” He asks, his eyes taking in the expression on the other’s face. He isn’t super great at this comforting thing, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. Neku was practically his best friend after everything they’ve been through. 

Neku had found himself frustrated, sitting down in a chair. Lost, confusion, and anger all boiled down into a feeling of loneliness and regret. He’d known Beat since those times, and maybe Beat was catching up fast, but...Neku wasn’t. Perhaps it had been due to how long he was in the UG, but...everything felt foreign.  Praise was not something Neku really sought. It was more the end of his sentence. Swimming against the current was hard enough, and even harder when your reality had been what would be seen as fantasy. When Beat came over, Neku immediately felt...sheepish. He looked off to the side, opposite of his friend. “I...”

     This really did bring back so many good memories. Everyone always meeting up here, especially after the first time they’d all been through the UG together. It was like one of those– how did Rhyme put it? Para-something or other. Either way, Beat was over the moon with how happy he was to have his best friend back here where he belonged. With everyone at his side. 

     “Man!” The question Neku asks has Beat laughing aloud now. “There’s so much you gotta get caught up on!” He says. “I know da perfect place t’do it too!” 

     A pause, then an almost dejected look. “But it don’t sell ramen anymore–” he warns quickly. He will always mourn the loss of that ramen shop in Dogenzaka. “But! ‘S got some pretty damn good curry there now! Same old guy an’ everythin’, yo!” Mm…Curry. 

Relaxing now that Beat was no longer going to threaten him with noogies, he put a hand into his pocket. He watched Beat’s energetic manner, and could only smile at him for it. Heh. It really did feel...good, to be back.

Still leaning against the window, he’ll let Neku finish before he speaks. True, this was a sort of… Test endeavor. If it went as Joshua expected, it would serve as an apt final encounter. The way it was all laid out, though… Impressive.

“Well, it looks like you’ve worked out more than a little yourself.” He’ll nod, agreeing with most of the sentiment. “You never fail to impress, I must say.” He’ll leave the question on the date hanging in the air, instead choosing to address more pressing and less obvious matters.

“Well, here I am. If you want to talk, of course I’ll lend an ear.” A light chuckle escapes him, and his honey-laced words are met with the same, knowing smile as always. Finally, he’ll push himself off the wall, having a seat on one of the display shelves.

“Go on ahead, then. I’m listening.”

He’ll stand in front of him, reaching up to take his headphones off his ears. Honestly, he was browsing while listening to music. Maybe that’s why he didn’t hear anything? Damn, just his luck. Those headphones of his were awfully good at blocking out sound. Or...maybe he just needed to turn down the volume some. Either way, he wanted to hear this. He lets them sit on his shoulders for now, his clothes forming to the new weight.  He’ll leave the impress comment alone. He’s not so sure he’d want to open that can of worms.  “Maybe I have. I’ve had a lot of time to go back and think on what happened. To think on what it all meant. I’ve...always had something to say.” Pfft. That’s funny. Watching him sit up there makes him look like the primadonna cat he really is. ... But now that he’s here, it feels like all of the words were taken out of my mouth.  Dammit! For a second, Neku looks lost. The words, “Go on ahead then, I’m listening,” echoed in his mind as he stared at the boy who started this mess. 

“Neku, be very cautious because your next choice will determine the fate of our budding friendship: who has better hair?”