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Neku Sakuraba has always been one to deal with a lot of shit that he doesn’t want to be involved with. He also was very used to finding himself in unpleasant situations that he had no desire to be in. These trends made him especially suspicious whenever his boyfriend wanted to drag him somewhere. So when Joshua said he wanted to go to a coffee shop outside of Shibuya, Neku was incredibly suspicious.
“Are you even allowed to leave Shibuya?”
“Of course! I’m not a prisoner here. I just simply.. don’t enjoy leaving Shibuya unattended.”
Neku didn’t buy that excuse “Then why are we going for coffee somewhere outside of your boundaries? if its just the coffee then we can always go to Wildkat.”
“I want this specific coffee. Neku darling you know how particular I am with my tastes. Besides, I believe it technically falls within my purview.”
Neku raised an eyebrow. “ Technically ?”
Joshua waved a hand as though the question was an annoying bug. “It’s more of a neutral space but we get the residents for the game. Now come along, we have coffee to get.”
The cafe was down a weird side street and the only people inside seemed to be a few teenagers huddled together in a corner . Joshua walked straight up to the bar and ordered two coffees, black.
Neku accepted his with an eyeroll. of course Joshua would not let him order coffee the way he actually preferred.
The coffee itself was really good though, and the taste wasn’t as overpowering as Neku had expected.
“Akira, right?”
The boy stiffened, the rest of his friends glancing between each other and Joshua who was now standing by their table . Neku couldn’t help but sigh. if Joshua were anyone else, Neku would be worried about him getting hurt. But this was Joshua.
“Who's asking?"
“Someone who wants to thank you.”
Neku felt the glass he was holding slip out of his hands and clatter to the bar. A quick glance said that nothing was broken but the remaining bit of coffee was now entirely on Neku’s lap. But that was not the most immediate problem.
“YOU want to thank someone for something? Genuinely ?”
Joshua waved him off, eyes never leaving the boy’s face. “I want to thank you for saving Shibuya.”
Suddenly everything made sense. This was about Christmas.
Christmas, where blood fell from the sky and grotesque spines grew from the ground.
Chistmas, where Neku thought he was going crazy after all this time.
Christmas, where the UG disappeared and Joshua was truly human again if only for a moment.
Christmas, where Joshua almost died and Neku almost watched him go.
The boy was still on edge at these words “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Joshua smiled and leaned in towards them. “You know exactly what I mean.” Neku could see the shimmering of Joshua's UG form beginning to peek through. And the strange glow over the boy’s eyes means he saw it too.
“What are you? Mementos is destroyed.”
“I’m nothing you’ve experienced before, let me assure you. I am simply someone who has to thank you for the work you did in preserving Shibuya.”
Neku sighed and walked over to the table, hot coffee still lightly burning his crotch. “This is Joshua. To over simplify, his existence is tied to Shibuya’s. By taking down that creature, you saved his life. He’s trying to say thank you for that.”
The girl with short brown hair sitting next to the boy. “And who are you then?”
“I’m Neku. His boyfriend.”
“You don’t seem human either.” From close up, the boy’s eyes glowed yellow. Neku was immediately reminded of the red eyes of everyone in his third week of the game, a shiver rolling slowly down his spine .
“I’m…human who’s died a few times.”
“Is that even possible?” This time it was the girl with the bright orange hair who spoke up, her face clearly portraying her skepticism .
Joshua smiled, his mouth turning in way that made him look as inhuman as Neku knew that he was. “My entire thing is to judge the dead that deserve a second attempt. Which brings me to my last thing. I hope that when you all die it is in Shibuya, as I would love to have any of the Phantom Thieves of Heart under my wing.”
“Joshua stop creeping them out!” Neku shoved Joshua before turning back to the now bewildered teenagers “Uh... he’s an angel. He wants to thank you and express his admiration. He’s not good at being not an asshole so.. we’re going to go now.”
Neku began pushing Joshua until they were out the door.
The Phantom Thieves of Heart had experienced many things that most people would never be able to comprehend . But the pair that had just walked out the door of Leblanc was a kind of strange they hadn’t experienced before.
Ryuji was the first to speak after the silence that fell after the door had closed behind the two men.
“What the actual fuck just happened?”
Yusuke’s eyes were still wide with shock “ I believe we met a Shinigami.”
“Stupid Inari, he had a western name. Clearly he’s the grim reaper.” Futaba was energetic in her answer, very much excited after being acknowledged by the supernatural even after everything that had already happened .
Akira shook his head. “He was neither of those. Neku called him an angel and he wasn't lying.”
Makoto leaned forward in interest “You used your third eye right? i didn’t know it still worked.”
Akira shrugged “Our powers weren’t taken away, they just aren’t very useful anywhere other than the metaverse . But yes I looked at him with my third eye. And I saw that he definitely was an angel.”
Ann leaned forward with excitement "Ooh! did he have wings?”
Akira nodded “They were huge. Very ethereal.”
Yusuke was already bent over his sketchbook, apparently feeling very inspired by the strange experience .
Futaba looked over at the sketch and laughed. “I can’t believe we met a real angel of death and he was such a twink."