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“Happy New Years!”
Four voices rang in a chorus, hands raising their mugs of hot chocolate to celebrate the clock ticking past midnight. This new year’s celebration was special for them—because for the first time ever, Neku was there to celebrate it with his friends.
He leaned back against the soft cushions on Shiki’s couch, trying to get comfy, yet careful not to move too much. He didn’t want to make Shiki move from where she had nestled up against his shoulder, her short brunette hair tickling his neck. Beat and Rhyme occupied the side chairs, with Rhyme guzzling her drink down far too fast if her brother had anything to say about it. They’d decided to take the festivities to Shiki’s apartment this year, the bright lights inside distracting from the starry sky outside.
A text popped up on Neku’s phone. A Happy New Year’s message from the rest of the Twisters, showing them enjoying it together at a late night temple visit. Eri, too, sent one to the group from herself and her parents.
“Looks like everyone’s having a good time tonight,” Neku commented.
Next to him, Shiki’s head drooped, her mug tipping dangerously forward. Neku grabbed it before it soaked her lap, helping her hold it straight.
“You tired?”
“Mm-mm, I’m fine,” she insisted, rubbing her eyes.
“Shiki always gets tired on New Year’s, yo,” Beat said, keeping a close eye on his sister. “Usually havta wake ‘er up for celebrations.”
“I’m not that bad.” Shiki’s protest was half-muffled, losing its way into Neku’s sleeve. “I was just working on a project late last night…”
“That was your same excuse last year, yo.”
“Yeah, I think you’re just comfy,” Rhyme added. “Can’t say I blame you, though. Must be nice to have a human pillow after three years of waiting!”
“I’d hope I’m more than just a human pillow,” Neku joked, while Beat reeled back.
“Yo, Rhyme—you ain’t sayin’ you want one a’ those, right?!”
“Mmmm…” She drew out a hum, a playful smirk on her face. “I am almost eighteen…”
“Yeah, but—you still too young, yo!”
Rhyme laughed. “Relax, Beat. I’m not even interested in anyone like that right now. And when I am, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Better be someone tha’s good enough for you an’ not some creep, yo,” Beat grumbled. As overprotective as he was, even he looked like he knew it could come one day—and he’d accepted that in his own way.
Because they were all growing together… They were all facing a new year with new changes.
“Rhyme’ll be fine,” Neku reassured his friend. “She has all of us to watch out for her.”
“Yeah,” Shiki agreed. “We have this year and every year now…” She pushed herself up straight, facing the siblings. “Like how you two watched over me these past three years… Thanks for that. For everything you did to help me…”
The past three years… Neku had an idea of what they went through without him, but he’d still missed more than could be put into words. He could see it in their faces, even in their movements. But these three had been there for each other, through thick and thin. Three friends for three years, dealing with life while he was stuck in Shinjuku.
“It’s nothin’, yo.” Beat chowed down on some of their rice crackers. “You were there for us, too. I’m jus’ glad we found you that one New Year’s Eve…”
“Something happen back then?” Neku asked.
“Yeah—it was the first New Year’s after, well, everything,” Rhyme spoke up as she set her empty mug down. “Shiki tried to wait it out alone for you at Hachiko.”
Shiki turned red at that reminder. “W-well—maybe it was silly, but I just thought since it was New Year’s, maybe you’d somehow come back, a-and…”
“An’ nothin’, yo. Tha’s when we found out ‘bout her crush on you,” Beat told Neku.
“Really?” Neku frowned, trying to picture that. It must’ve been devastating for her. Heartbroken, waiting for someone who wouldn’t return for years—someone she loved… “So what happened?”
“I knew you wouldn’t want ‘er to jus’ sit there an’ cry all night, so I picked her up—literally.”
“‘Literally’...?”
“Yup. Slung her over my shoulder an’ carried her to our place for New Year’s!”
Rhyme giggled. “We made sure she was well taken care of!”
“That so?” Neku glanced over at Shiki, gently holding her hand. “I’m glad you three had each other…”
Shiki nodded. “And now we have you now, too. So we can create all sorts of new memories this year!”
“Fo'sho! I’m excited for 'dat snowboard trip.”
“You know what I’m excited for?” Rhyme reached into the bag next to her, pulling out a handful of pins. “Beating you all at our yearly Tin Pin!”
“Oh you’re on, yo! Ain’t no way I’m losin’ this year!”
Yearly… Tin Pin? They couldn’t be serious.
Neku stared at them as they cleared off Shiki’s coffee table, preparing for the pin-based battle.
Damn, they were serious.
Though to be honest, Neku couldn’t complain. It’d been ages since he’d gotten to challenge anyone at Tin Pin—he just hoped he wasn’t rusty.
“You have some pins, Neku?” Shiki shuffled through her pin pouch. “If not, I can get you some.”
“I’ve got some,” Neku said, pulling them out of his pocket. “After three years in the UG, I never go anywhere without them.”
“Figured as much. But bet you don’t have one of these!” Rhyme passed one of the Tin Pin launcher—a blue one. Shiki had green, Beat had yellow, and Rhyme herself had claimed a black one.
“Guess we should tell you how we play,” Shiki said. “We do multiple rounds—and loser has to make breakfast.”
Neku scrunched his eyebrows together. “How do you decide that?”
“Each round, the winner has a choice: they can either drop out and be out of danger, or they can go it again. But if they drop out, they can’t join back in.”
“Okay, but why would they want to go again?”
“Because…” Shiki presented a surprise gift bag on the counter. “Whoever wins the most rounds gets this. We all pool together to pay for it every year so it’s fair.”
“Huh… Sounds like you’ve all got this figured out.”
“We missed the sunrise our first year together, so we came up with a plan to stay up that long next year,” Rhyme explained. “And the game would be over too fast if we only did two rounds, so… we decided we needed an incentive to stay in.”
“More like you, yo. Rhyme figured it all out,” Beat commented, happy to brag about his little sister. “And it’s worked like a fortune!”
“Huh, okay…” Neku fitted the launcher over his arm, inserting his first pin in. “Well, I’m ready when you guys are.”
They started the game, their pins flying this way and that as they battled it out. Shiki, to no one’s surprise, quickly dominated the field with her Gatto Nero sets, taking no prisoners as she beat them round after round. Eventually, they had to force her to sit on the side, Neku holding her as she pouted—and inadvertently made it harder for him to win.
The hours passed, and with Shiki no longer gunning for the top, Neku got back in the swing of the game. Even if he couldn’t win, he’d at least save himself from coming in last—and as Beat dropped out with his lucky win, it was Neku versus Rhyme.
They both fought hard, but now that Neku was in his groove, nothing could beat him—well, nothing except a sleepy Shiki cuddling up to him, making him lose a pin. But he wasn’t done yet. He pulled out his next, not ready to lose to Rhyme yet.
A few tossed pins later, and Neku came out victorious. Just in time, too. Sleep had begun to capture the fringes of his mind as well, and he leaned back with an arm around his tired girlfriend.
“Can’t sleep yet,” Rhyme said as she picked up the pins. “See if you can wake Shiki—looks like it’s almost time for the sunrise.”
Had that much time passed already? It still looked pretty dark outside Shiki’s large window, but he wasn’t exactly used to seeing the sunrise. He’d just have to trust them.
While Beat and Rhyme cleaned up from their party, Neku nudged Shiki. “Hey… It’s time to wake up.”
She blinked, rubbing her eyes under her glasses. “Is it morning already…?”
“Not quite,” Neku replied, keeping his voice low and gentle. “It’s almost time for the sunrise…”
“The sunrise…?” It took a moment for that to compute in Shiki’s head, and she barely covered her mouth as a yawn escaped it.
“Yep, first sunrise of the new year. You decide on your new year’s resolution yet?”
Shiki nodded, claiming Neku’s arm and pulling it over so she could nuzzle against it. “To hold onto you forever…”
She’d said it so sincerely that Neku couldn’t help but chuckle, patting her head. “I think you need something for yourself, not me.”
“I’m serious though… This is my first New Years with you, and… if someone tries taking you away again next year…”
Her arms trembled lightly, almost going unnoticed by Neku. Almost, but he saw it. Even with their promise to be together no matter how far apart, it looked like that fear still stuck with her—that she wouldn’t get a full year with him, much less a lifetime…
“I’m going to protect you this year—and every year. So you’ll never go back to the UG…”
“I know…” Neku settled next to her, resting his head on hers. “And thanks for that. But I don’t think you need to worry. Josh isn’t going to let that happen again.”
“But…”
“I think even he knows that I’ve earned my happy ending by now,” Neku interrupted. “Besides… Before he sent me back, you wanna know what he said?”
Shiki looked up at him, her brown eyes shining in adorable curiosity.
“‘Let’s not keep her waiting,’” Neku repeated his friend’s words. “He knew that I wanted to see you again—and spend my life with you… and I trust that. We’ll be okay this time.”
“Neku…” Shiki nodded, leaning close to him. “We can really stay together this time, then…?”
Neku shifted close as well, closing his eyes. “Yeah…”
He felt his lips brush against hers as they both moved in for the kiss—
“Neku, Shiki! Get your asses over here, yo!”
They both lurched as Beat’s voice boomed throughout Shiki’s small apartment. They’d almost forgotten about the siblings. Or at least, Neku had.
He forced himself to push his heart down enough to look up at the pair standing by the window. The first touches of sunlight had breached the morning sky, engulfing the dark in a pink glow.
Neku and Shiki both stood, hurrying to watch with their friends. The sun rose further from beneath the horizon, sprinkling the clouds with streaks of orange and yellow—a canvas full of warm hues Neku had almost forgotten existed. It painted the sky in such a soft, yet vibrant array, so beautiful that it stole the breath from his throat.
It really was the start of a new day—of a new year… and he was finally seeing it from the RG. From the Shibuya he knew and loved, next to his friends and the young woman he loved…
Neku wrapped an arm around Shiki, pressing her back against his chest.
This year, all I want…
“Yo, Priss Boy!” Beat shouted at the wide sky. “You’re comin’ to hang out this year, even if I havta drag you out!”
Rhyme laughed, patting his shoulder. “That your new year’s resolution this time?”
“Hell yeah! We almost have our full group back so we can hang out again!”
“Technically we’ve never all hung out in the first place,” Neku pointed out. “But… would be nice if we finally could…”
“I gotchu, yo! I’m gonna go pull ‘im out by the ear if I’ve gotta!”
“Mm, I might help,” Shiki said. “What about you, Rhyme? Same as last year?”
Rhyme nodded. “Yeah… I’m gonna figure out my dream. But I feel closer to it this year, y’know? I’m sure I can do something with my hacking—I just have to figure out what!”
“You’ve got this, yo!” Beat said, ruffling his sister’s hair. “Ain’t nothin’ gonna stop you from finally findin’ your dream!”
“Yeah… Still kinda sad you beat me! You figured out what you wanna do by the time Neku came back, just like promised.”
Neku tilted his head. “You did?”
“Yeah,” Beat said, beaming. “There’s this local charity that helps kids without a lot learn sports like skateboardin’, but it ain’t been doin’ well. I’ve been talkin’ wit them ‘bout joinin’ once I’m outta college. Might even try a pro competition to make some money for ‘em.”
“Huh… That’s pretty cool, Beat.” Neku threw his best friend a smile. “They’ll be lucky to have you.”
“Thanks, Phones!”
They were all figuring their lives out—their dreams, their futures… and now, Neku could finally do that, too. He could focus on the café he’d been given from a letter left by Hanekoma, or work on his art… He could freelance with all sorts of mediums like Mr. H used to do for this city.
Though, it wasn’t exactly like taking up the mantle. He wasn’t Mr. H. Whatever artistic work he created would still be his own. He’d find his own way to leave his mark. And figuring that out wasn’t a bad resolution.
But…
“Well, guess I’m making breakfast.” Rhyme stretched her arms up over her head. “I’ll do a two or three hour nap, then work on that. Sound like a plan?”
“Sure, yo! Sleep more if you need—we can get a late start. Not like we’re goin’ that far tomorrow.” Beat stretched, too, not even bothering to hide his monster yawn. “Think I’m gonna crash myself…”
“Sounds good to me.” Stifling his own yawn, Neku followed Beat to roll out the futons in Shiki’s living room.
“You two gonna be good out here?” Shiki asked.
“Yeah, don’t worry,” Neku replied. “Sleep well, okay?”
Shiki nodded as she shuffled closer to give him a light kiss on the cheek. “You, too.”
After a few final good nights, the girls retreated into Shiki’s room. Neku and Beat settled down, both too tired to care about the light seeping into the room.
Pulling the blankets up, Neku soon slipped into sleep.
* * * * * * *
To say they got a late start was an understatement. But Neku couldn’t complain; three years in Shinjuku had left him exhausted, and he found himself sleeping much more than he used to. Maybe that’s why his friends took so long to wake him. Either way, they didn’t get out the door ‘til well past noon.
The Meiji Shrine was on the other side of Shibuya, and while they could’ve taken the train, they opted to walk and enjoy the crisp winter air. According to Neku’s friends, the line to pray at the temple was a lot shorter than previous years—but they’d also come earlier back then.
Neku followed them up, ringing the bell with them before throwing in a five yen coin to the offering box. He then watched as they each clasped their hands together and closed their eyes to pray. And Neku tried to follow suit, but somehow, praying seemed odd for him now that he had an inkling of how the system worked. Would his words go to Josh? Mr. H? Or something higher than both of them?
At the same time, it felt weird not to pray—he’d done it plenty of times growing up. His body knew the motions, even if his head, for once, didn’t know what to say. He settled for hoping it was Josh that could hear him—if anyone could.
Josh, if you’re listening now… Thanks. These past few months have been amazing, and I hope you can join us one day…
…On second thought, could he take that back? Crap, now he just had to hope the Composer couldn’t really hear. Even if the words were true, Josh would no doubt hold the fact that Neku literally just prayed to him over his head with that same damn annoying smirk on his face.
Grimacing at the mental image, Neku bowed and took his leave, only to find he was the last of his group to finish.
“Hey,” Shiki greeted. “You good?”
“Yeah,” Neku mumbled, pinching one of his spikes. “Just wondering whether what I just did’s gonna bite me in the ass.”
“Huh?”
Of course she looked confused. Not like he did a good job at explaining, but honestly, he just wanted to move past it. “So what are we doing next?”
“We usually do fortunes next,” Shiki said, taking his hand and following the siblings.
Beat went ahead and paid for all of them to get fortunes, and the seller gave them each a rolled up sheet of paper. Neku moved away to a tree to unroll it, curiously peeking inside. It’d been so long since he’d gotten a fortune that he almost forgot what all was on it. Though, even if he had miraculously gotten fortunes somewhere in Shinjuku, he doubted they’d be all that good.
…but neither was this one. ‘Bad luck’ sat at the top, and his work section looked as lost as he felt. Only his love section had a glimmer of hope, telling him that happy and peaceful days awaited after all the tears.
Well, it was still something. Rolling it back up, he glanced over at Shiki. “How’s yours?”
“Not too bad,” she answered, her eyes sticking to the paper as she read over it. “Above average fortune, says I need to slow down with work or bad things will happen…”
Neku choked back a laugh. “Hold on—you mean the fortune’s telling you to take a break?”
Shiki waved her hands in her attempted denial. “N-no! I mean, I don’t think so? I’m trying to figure it out—especially with how strong Gatto Nero’s been!”
“Yeah, and it’ll keep being strong.” Neku crossed over to pat her head, a smirk on his face. “Even if you take a break.”
Shiki whined. “Maybe I should tie this fortune up and leave it here.”
He couldn’t hold it back any longer. The laughter fled his mouth in full force, and he plucked the fortune out of her grasp to hold onto it for safekeeping. “No way—if your fortune’s telling you to take a break, you’re taking a break.”
“N-Neku!”
“Besides, throwing away an above average fortune might be bad luck.” Or at least, it seemed like bad luck. He honestly wasn’t even sure anymore. “Just give it a chance.”
The pout didn’t leave her face, even as Beat and Rhyme strolled over with theirs.
“Give what a chance?” Rhyme asked.
“Shiki’s fortune. It wants her to take a break for once.”
“Oh, yeah, you’re keeping that one.”
“Rhyme, not you, too!” Shiki slumped over, defeated. “What’d you guys get?”
“Mine wasn’t that great, yo,” Beat said, jerking a thumb over to where he’d tied it up. “Decided to leave it an’ figure out my own fortune this year.”
Tie it up and leave it, huh? Neku could do that with his, possibly.
He uncurled it, his eyes glossing over the love section again.
“But Rhyme’s—take a look at hers this year, yo!” Beat continued, eager to boast. “Said her dreams’ll take off or somethin’—so she might find it this year!”
“Really? That’s great, Rhyme!”
“Yep! I hope it’s true…”
Good, bad… They celebrated it or judged based on that, but…
Did it really matter, though? For the kids who’d fought their way through hell itself to get here… They weren’t about to give up now. Even if Rhyme’s fortunes had called her dreams impossible, she wouldn’t just quit and call it futile—Neku was sure of that.
Clenching his own, he crossed over to where Beat had tied up his fortune. Neku added his next to it, wondering if maybe he’d do the same, no matter what it’d said. After finally making it back home, though, he couldn’t help it. No slip of paper, and no so-called god behind it was going to decide their fate.
Especially not when those ‘gods’ couldn’t even figure out the fates of their own damn cities without help.
“Neku?”
Shiki touched his arm, glancing from him to his fortune.
“Was it that bad…?”
“Wasn’t the worst, I guess,” Neku said, turning to her with a shrug. “But I decided I don’t need it. I want to see what my future has in store for myself.”
Shiki blinked, a smile soon spreading across her face. “Yeah… I’ll help you.”
“Thanks…” Neku looked over to Rhyme, offering her a high five. “Congrats on the fortune, though. I hope you find it.”
Rhyme hopped up to slap his hand. “Yeah, thanks! I’m gonna try my best.” Landing with her hands clasped behind her back, she then asked, “So, charms next?”
“Sure.”
Charms… Neku kinda remembered those. And one glance at the pouches as they reached the stall fully reminded him of these small things they bought every year. This was at least one they could choose for themselves. Something for family, love, protection…
Actually, maybe protection wouldn’t be that bad. Was there a ‘gun protection’ one somewhere? Then at least if a third person pulled a gun on him, maybe he’d make it out without getting shot for once.
He started browsing the ones for protection and general safety. Almost as soon as he picked up one labeled ‘traffic safety,’ he felt a dark presence looming over him.
“Yo, man,” Beat said, putting a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Don’t get that one. It’s cursed.”
Uhhhh?
Neku could only stare up at his friend as the girls giggled behind him. He was definitely missing something. But as Beat’s grip got tighter, Neku put back the charm.
“Fine, I won’t get it,” Neku relented. With a sigh of relief, Beat released him. He instead plopped another one into Neku’s hands—a purple one labeled ‘to ward against evil.’
“Get that one instead, yo. Maybe it’ll keep Pixie Chick away from ya.”
“Coco’s not that bad.” Neku closed his fingers around it anyway. Might be the best kind of protection he was gonna get. Besides, if one of his partners recommended it, then who was he to say no?
“Here, this can go with it,” Rhyme piped up, offering an orange one to Neku. Good luck, from the looks of it.
“Good call, Rhyme! Now Phones’ll be safe and lucky, yo!”
Neku chuckled to himself as he took them. “Guess I’m gonna have some full pockets.”
“Yep, to the brim!” Rhyme nodded past Neku, and he turned to see Shiki sliding over him with a pair of matching charms.
“Hey, Neku?” She looked up at him, offering one with a sheepish smile. “Let’s get these, too…”
Love charms—better yet, protective ones, to keep both sides of the relationship alive and healthy.
“That way, we can protect each other, or… something. Right?”
A way to protect each other… Slowly, Neku nodded, taking one of the love charms as well.
“Thanks, Shiki… I’ll keep it with me.”
He held the three charms together, staring down at them. They all really cared about him—and didn’t want him getting spirited away for yet another trip to the UG. He only somewhat noticed as Beat and Rhyme chose out charms for themselves, both deciding to work on their dreams this year. And Shiki, the girl whose dreams had already come true, happily held her own love charm up in the light.
Same here, Shiki. My new year’s resolution is…
“Okay, last thing on the list is writing our wishes down!” Rhyme announced as Shiki paid for the charms. Rhyme then spun around, happy to race her brother over to the wooden plaques for the last part of their shrine visit adventure.
“How are you doing?” Shiki asked Neku as she fell in line next to him, the two of them leisurely walking over to the final stall.
“I’m good. It’s been a bit since I’ve done all this, but… It’s nice to get back to it, y’know? Feels like something’s finally normal again.”
“Did you ever visit the shrines in Shinjuku?”
“Only to fight Noise,” Neku answered. “But honestly, I lost track of time there… I had no idea when one week ended and the next began, much less a year. So I never got to see the new year sunrise, or…” He held the charms up again, a soft smile on his face.
Protection from his friends from this new year’s tradition… Strong as he was in the UG, he didn’t mind this for a nice change. Being protected for once, by the friends he cherished…
“Well, get used to it.” Shiki tapped her own love charm against his, her other hand finding his to hold on tight. “Because I’m serious about what I said earlier—I’m not letting you go again.”
“Shiki…”
“Josh and whoever else can’t have you anymore,” she said with a confident grin. “I’ll write it on your cheek if I have to—that you’re all mine now.”
Neku couldn’t help but grin back as they reached the markers. “Write it on a plaque, then,” he suggested. “Not my cheek.”
“Maybe I’ll do both.”
Rhyme passed some wooden boards over to them—already paid for and ready for whatever they wanted to write. One peek over at Shiki, and Neku saw that she actually was writing some version of what she said. But silly as she was, that was part of what he loved about her.
“What are you gonna write?” Shiki asked as Neku picked out his own black marker.
“Me? I think I’m gonna write my New Year’s resolution,” Neku decided.
Because… with the way his life had gone, that was as much of a wish as it was something he wanted to make for himself.
But maybe, this year—and all other years from now until forever—he could make it a reality. He wouldn’t get whisked away, abandoned by life, separated from his friends and the one he loved.
He hung the plaque up with the others, backing away to stare at it as it swayed in the wind. And, though subtle, he noticed a small new mark when they settled back down—a mark from the Composer who’d make sure those wishes came true.
Neku smiled to himself, taking Shiki’s hand to leave the wishing area behind—ready to realize his New Year’s resolution once and for all.
All I want… is to live my life with you, Shiki.