Archive of Our Own

"Welcome, Players," Kitaniji greeted. "Ex-Players, that is. Your game has ended. Now you are simply dead."

"It's him..." Shiki realized.

Beat, however, was fuming. "Whatchu doin' here, Shades?!" he demanded.

"Where's the Composer?" Neku asked.

"Oh, is that why you're here?" Kitaniji asked in response. "And why would you kids want to meet the Composer?"

"Whatchu think, man?!" Beat shouted. He cracked his knuckles. "We gonna take him down!"

"Not a chance," Kitaniji dismissed. "You're not even fit to look upon him."

"Whatchu say?!" Beat yelled, still fuming.

"The Composer's utmost concern is mankind's happiness," Kitaniji continued. "He exists to shepherd the human race towards the right future, and thus all his acts are motivated by boundless love. You think egotists like yourselves have the right to lay your eyes, let along a finger, on a being so far above you? You're not even on the same plane!"

But Beat wasn't buying any of it. "Yo, I don't get a word you sayin', but you ain't stoppin' me!" he dismissed. "I'm gonna take his place and bring everybody back to life!"

"You see?" Kitaniji stated. "That self-serving rubbish is the root of all pain!"

"What?" Beat muttered, confused.

"Egotism, disregard for others, has caused Shibuya's downfall," Kitaniji continued. "And now the Composer must rebuild from scratch!" He held up his hand. "None may stand in the way of that noble goal!"

SNAP!

Suddenly, Shiki let out a sharp gasp and clutched her head in pain, dropping Mr. Mew in the process. "Shiki!" Neku cried out.

"Interference will not be condoned," Kitaniji informed.

"You bastard!" Beat shouted. "What did you do to Shiki?!"

At that moment, Shiki lowered her arms. "To right the countless wrongs...of our day..." she muttered.

"Hey, can you hear me?!" Neku checked as he gently shook Shiki's shoulder. But she did not respond.

"...we shine this light..."

Neku gasped as his eyes widened, realizing what Shiki was saying.

"...of true redemption..."

"This ain't good," Beat panicked.

"Shiki!" Neku cried out, grabbing her shoulders with both arms.

"...that this place..." Shiki muttered as she looked up, her eyes glowing bright red.

"She's actin' like the people we saw 'round Shibuya!" Beat realized, voicing concern.

Kitaniji chuckled as he watched the scene unfold, almost amused with the orange-haired teen's pained reaction as he released his grasp and stepped back.

"Almost too wonderful," Kitaniji chimed in. "And yet, it's almost in reach."

Suddenly, Shiki punched midair with a shout, prompting Mr. Mew to spring to life with a purple aura surrounding him and his stitched eyes glowing red. As for Kitaniji, he held up his arms as dark red energy spiraled around them. "No one gets to the Composer," he informed. "If you won't listen, I will have to take care of you myself."

With that, Kitaniji projected a bizarre red snake-like shape from his arm and hurled it towards Neku, but Beat jumped in front of the path, skateboard in hand. "Beat!" the orange-haired teen shouted.

"Yo, man, I got this!" Beat called out as he hopped on his skateboard. "You go take care of Shiki!"

Neku gave Beat a quick nod before turning back towards Shiki. He readied his Burning Melon pin to fight ba-

"Neku... Don't kill me..."

Neku froze up as his flame orb quickly disintegrated. "No..." he gasped. Where did that memory come from?

"There is no other way..."

He knew exactly what the memory was. It was from the first week, when he... When h-he...

"Now, let's see some results!"

That's right. When he nearly killed Shiki. His blue eyes widened in horror, not wanting to use his pins. He nearly choked her to death that day. Thinking back to that moment hurt him. He couldn't even imagine what would have happened if things took a turn for the worse. Had Hanekoma not grabbed his wrist to stop him…

"NO!!!!!!!!"

Neku slapped his hands over his headphones as he screamed, not wanting those thoughts to cross his mind. He had changed since then. Yet despite so much time passing, it wasn't until this moment that he realized he was still bothered by his past actions.

He didn't want to kill her.

Not now, not ever.

But with Neku refusing to fight back, the battle was entirely one-sided. Shiki shouted as she repeatedly punched midair, resulting in him getting hit multiple times by plush punches. He could do nothing else but attempt to block those hits with just his arms, but that only made them bruised.

"Dammit!" Neku screamed. He angrily glanced towards Kitaniji, much like when Shiki vanished at the end of his first week. "What gives?! What're you hoping to achieve from this?!"

"Don't get distracted!" Beat warned as he skateboarded towards Kitaniji, ramming his body into the Conductor.

"Right!" Neku shouted back. He turned to face Shiki and-

"You think not teaming up would have saved her?!"

It happened again. But this time...

"Screw it! We're better off without them!"

Neku remembered that memory all too well. It was shortly after Rhyme was erased, when he lashed out against Shiki out of impulse. Thinking about it now, he was probably feeling deja vu over a similar loss from...his death.

Now those plush punches from Mr. Mew felt no different from when Shiki slapped him two weeks ago.

"Shiki, you've gotta listen," Neku begged, gradually losing his endurance. "This isn't like you. I know you're stronger than this. You have to fight it!"

But it seemed the Red Skull influence was too strong. Shiki did nothing but continuously pummel Neku with Mr. Mew. Realizing he had no other choice, the orangeylocks teen held out his left hand towards Shiki, activating Sweet Talk Tether - the most non-lethal pin on him at the moment. With the pin activated, three metal chains were summoned from the ground, two to restrain Shiki's wrists and one to firmly secure Mr. Mew to the ground. She fiercely tried to tug free, but to no avail.

Neku slowly backed away from Shiki as he gasped for breath, hoping to help Beat fight Kitaniji as she continuously tugged. But then...

CLUNK!

Shiki had torn free from the chains' binding. With a sharp yell, she tackled Neku into the room's bar, grabbing his throat as she pushed his body against the table.

And then, everything went silent.

Neku let out choked wheezes as he attempted to break free, but it was too much. He could feel Shiki's fingernails digging into his neck, scratching his skin in the process. He looked up at her as tears fell from his eyes. He knew there was no other way. His body screamed at him, telling him to use his pins to save himself. Using the last of his strength, he slowly lifted up his right hand and...

"Trust your partner."

...gingerly rested it on Shiki's cheek.

"P-Please..." Neku gasped, his eyes stinging from the tears. "I can't see you get hurt..."

SPLASH!

Neku noticed a few droplets of water had landed on his face. Not from the tears, but by something else. Feeling the choking hold on his neck loosening up, he suddenly remembered what had happened. While he and Beat were fighting Konishi, the Aqua Ghost pin he got from a Choirfrog had become Aqua Demon, allowing him to hurl splashes of water at his opponents. It was one of his weaker pins, and yet...

...it might be enough to save himself.

And so, the orange-haired teen focused on Aqua Demon to distract Shiki and freed himself from her grasp. Just like he suspected, she didn't get hurt. Splashes of water are entirely harmless, after all. Once her hands were separated from his neck, he quickly ducked and got back up to help Beat. But when he met up with his partner, he realized it was already too late.

"And stay down, you hear!" Beat shouted as he got off his skateboard and flipped it back into his hands.

Kitaniji growled as he glanced at Neku. "I see now why he picked you..." he muttered. Then he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"You did that?" Neku asked, surprised.

"You bet, yo!" Beat confidently confirmed. "Composer's next!"

Neku turned around. "But Shiki-"

THUD!

Sure enough, Mr. Mew was freed from Neku's chain and punched him right in the jaw, landing next to Shiki in a split second. And unfortunately for him, she showed no signs of giving up.

"Shiki?!" Beat shouted. He readied his skateboard. "Damn... She don't recognize us!"

"Why can't she-" Neku muttered. But then he noticed a faint red glow coming from her skirt. "Wait. She has one on, too. If I break it..."

"It's no good, man!" Beat assumed. "Girl be tryin' to kill us!" He got back on his skateboard. "We outta options. Shiki... Forgive me!"

"Stop!" Neku shouted as he jumped between the two teens. "Don't you touch her!"

"Stupid... Behind you!" Beat warned.

Suddenly, Mr. Mew copies poofed midair. They increased in numbers, appearing around Neku. Then Shiki let out a yell, prompting all the black cat plush dolls to charge towards the orange-haired teen, who was bracing for impact. But before he could get hit, Beat shoved him aside and took the blows for him.

Not wanting the sacrifice to go in vain, Neku lunged towards Shiki as he grabbed her wrist. He was so close, his lips barely grazed hers. He reached his free hand out and snuck it into her skirt pocket, pulling out a rather familiar-looking pin. Then without warning, she fell unconscious and collapsed.

Neku looked at the pin he was holding, recognizing it as a Red Skull pin. "I was right," he realized, throwing the pin into the air and using Sweet Talk Tether to slice it in two halves. "It was the pin. The Composer- Mr. H's pin."

Turning around, Neku noticed Beat was also unconscious. Realizing he was now alone, Neku knelt next to Shiki. Her hat had fallen off while Mr. Mew had return to normal but she was unconscious. The orange-haired teen put his hand on her back, using his other hand to lift hers close to his cheek. Sensing her faint breath, he stood up as he picked up her in his arms, finally able to hold her. He walked over to Beat and gently set Shiki on the ground next to him, before kneeling next to his two friends.

"I should be long gone," Neku spoke, hoping they could hear his words. "But you all saw me through." He raised his hand to brush some hair out of Shiki's face. "Leave the rest to me. I'll end it."