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His breathing was uneven, as he blankly stared at the pink-haired woman in front of him. The chatter of people passing by Hachiko echoed in his ears, distant songs of a world that was so far away from him now. A world on a completely different level than the one he had been thrown into. A world he desired to return to. After all, in this hellhole, there was nothing for him. Only ridiculous missions, monsters that bothered him and this annoying chick he got paired up with despite his reluctance to be on the same team.
Huh, team. He didn’t need one. All he needed back was the silence; people leaving him alone.
He didn’t need this world. He only needed himself.
“A way to get out..?“ The whisper left his mouth accompanying a short breath while he looked at the woman in black clothes, corners of her lips curled up in a deep grin.
“Well duh, that’s what I already said – or weren’t you listening?!“ A laugh slipped past her brightly colored lips as she held her index finger in front of them and placed her free hand on her right cheek. “Soooo, are you in?“
Neku took a deep breath. There was no reason to hesitate, right?
“No, you can’t trust her!“
The desperate voice from behind him shortly dragged the boy out of his thoughts, hence he looked back, seeing his “partner“ on the ground, holding her side, clearly in pain. Shiki was squinting one eye, while doing her best to stand up on wobbly legs, ignoring the scratches that were covering her body like accessories. She couldn’t let him fall for any schemes the reapers had in store. They had formed a pact, a connection of trust, a bond that showed them they were supposed to work as one unit. They were partners!
“Please Neku, she’s a reaper! She’s not trustworthy!“ The girl desperately cried out, expression distorting as exhaustion dripped from her every word.
“It’s not like you’re any better.“ Neku huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His eyes moved on, pushing the girl out of his field of vision.
Shiki’s breath got stuck in her throat, eyebrows furrowed, every word in her heart suddenly coming to a halt. Yes, she had witnessed first-hand how he only focused on himself… But she couldn’t give up on her partner now, could she? Furthermore, without him, there was no way she could ever win the game and reach her goal…
“I’m in.“
His short answer caused the pink-haired reaper to chuckle in delight, “Oh, this will be suuuper fun! You have one minute! All you need to do...“ she paused, a glimmer of pure sadism flickering in her eyes, “Is to erase that girl.“
Neku completely froze, looking back over his shoulder to see the woman pointing at Shiki who was still on the ground. Her eyes were torn wide open, sheer panic radiating from her face. Momentarily, their lines of sight met and Neku held his breath... He was supposed to kill her?
Sure, he couldn’t stand her annoying mannerism and her persistent personality but taking a human life?
Biting down on his lip, he buried his face in the collar of his purple shirt, hiding from the cruel world. To end someone’s life... He couldn’t do that. No matter how much he hated everyone around him, turning into a murderer was... Impossible, no..?
“Oh come on, don’t act like you care about her!“ The reaper squirmed, showing off her claws with a hungry grin on her face.
“Erasing her...“ Neku started mumbling in a sober tone, face still covered by his clothes.
However, before he could continue, the reaper cut him off, ”It’s so easy! Just: Poof! And she’ll be gone. Pretend you’re erasing noise – it‘s no different!“
For some reason, the air eluded his lungs as thoughts of his hands taking a person’s life mocked him inside his mind. It was like every annoying person out there was screaming at him and he could hear them all despite the headphones that usually offered him comfort.
‘Kill her! Kill her!‘
Groaning, he went to cover his ears with headphones on top, tightly squinting his eyes shut. This was suffocating. Too loud. This chanting of everyone around him, as if they were there only to haunt him - it needed to stop. This whole world… It needed to go. Forever.
As his eyelids fluttered apart, he shot one more hesitant gaze at the girl behind him. She was shaking, beads of perspiration rolling down her forehead as her eyes met his. The fear was vivid within her brown orbs, already daring to reach him and drag him into the undertow of despair as well. Shiki slowly got up, biting her lip and clenching her hands to fists.
“This is sooo boring..! The countdown is starting now. Get a move on!” The reaper complained, gaining both the player’s attention, before shooting a sickeningly sweet smile at the orange-haired boy, “Here’s a hint ‘cause I’m so nice: This girl has been spying on you this whole time. Yep, she’s actually working for us reapers!”
“What?!” Neku exclaimed, his mouth dry all of a sudden, a freezing cold gnawing at his skin, leaving itching pain behind.
“This is a lie. She’s lying..!” Shiki insisted, staggering forwards until she stood beside Neku who merely stared back at her.
“Please, you’ve got to believe me!” The girl tried to advance past her partner’s dogged facade by placing her shivering hand on his momentarily. Neku cringed at the contact, feeling her warmth surround him in a matter of seconds, staying with him like a catchy song. What was this chick’s deal?! Why couldn’t she leave him alone?
Occupied with all this cursing inside his mind, he failed to notice the way her warmth calmed his rapidly beating heart, welcoming him into her world with open arms. It was… Salvaging. If only this hadn’t happened when he was already so disgusted with everything happening around him. There was no chance for hope anymore. The boy gritted his teeth in anger, forcefully shoving Shiki’s hand away, finally realizing the truth.
“You played with your phone the entire time…”
Like a player overrun by noise, Shiki gasped, flinching back a step. “That was just…”
“30 seconds left~!” The reaper sang in the background, clearly amused.
Neku was sick of waiting. He was sick of this girl doing as she pleased. He was sick of being stuck here and being forced to talk to strangers. It was like he had told the girl before: He would never open up for anyone. Not a chance.
“I swear, I’m not a spy! Please..!” Shiki’s voice cracked towards the end, a droplet of water forming in the corner of her eye. She insistently stared at Neku, feeling more shivers run down her back. This couldn’t be the end, right? This boy… He couldn’t just take her world away from her, right?
“I don’t care about you. I don’t need to hesitate. You’re just another someone who will leave my life eventually anyway.” Neku uttered underneath his breath, disdain gracing his sentences, before he finally lifted his head.
“Neku… Don’t kill me…” Shiki breathed, those words reaching only his ears and crawling into them with such a bitter softness, it made the hair on his arms stand up. Her teary brown orbs, shaking hands, pleading expression… Why did it get under his skin so much? She was nobody he would have to care about. She didn’t matter, right?
“Ten more seconds!”
This was it. He didn’t have time to hesitate. This girl needed to go. Gulping, he swallowed every last bit of hesitation left in his bones, averting his gaze as he could not stand looking at her fragile silhouette.
“There is no other way.”
His words hit her like a slap to the face, making her lose her composure and stumble backwards. Shiki tripped over her own feet, blinded by dread that colored her world gray and black. She raised her line of sight to see Neku approach her, his eyes hidden beneath his spiky hair and purple collar.
This… Couldn’t be happening…
Gradually, he raised his hand, as if he truly had never hesitated, threateningly inching closer. Shiki parted her quivering lips a final time, choking out words that sadness clung to.
“Please…” tears were gathering in her eyes, turning her world blurry, “Don’t kill me.”
One final plea, one last attempt to show her partner that this wasn’t the path to take… With her words, she reached out to him one more time that day.
Only for him to smack her hand away with brute force.
Blue circles danced around his fingers and Shiki felt her body being dragged upwards, losing the footing beneath her body, allowing panic to bloom inside her chest. Instinctively, she reached for her throat, clawing away at the invisible force that was crushing it, however, her fingertips were met with nothing but emptiness. No matter how hard she tried, there was nothing to hold onto; there was nothing she could do.
Slowly, another breath left her lips and she felt a certain tightness block her throat, a sick feeling settling in her stomach upon reality hitting her. She was being choked.
In pain, she squinted her eyes, doing her best to shake her head as a defense mechanism, however, all it caused was her hat to flutter to the ground. Now, her full expression was revealed: Eyebrows furrowed, tears staining her usually cheerful face, corners of her lips dragged down while her mouth was partly open, struggling to get a hold onto anything at all.
Neku finally raised his head, feeling a sharp pain shoot through his brain. When he looked at the person across from him, his eyes slightly widened, as if not believing he was going through with this either. The girl… His “partner”… Stalker…
No, Shiki… She was dying. By his own hands.
Somehow, just now reality settled in for the boy, as he truly understood what was going on. For the first time, he was able to completely assess the situation.
He was actually taking a person’s life. Absolute terror dawned on him.
Nevertheless, no matter how much he freaked out because of that truth, his body kept moving, having a mind of its own. Inside him, the urge to leave this hellhole behind, to return to his life in solitude and move past this annoying noise that accompanied him here fought against the realization and guilt of ending someone’s life. His desires and morals were clashing inside his mind like two parts of a graffiti that did not fit together at all - though one force was clearly underpowered.
He wanted to stop, yet wanted to continue. She was a spy anyway, right?
Or maybe she was innocent? Could this naïve and stupidly cheerful girl really be a malicious reaper?
His heart told him that was not the case but his brain shut every last doubt down. It didn’t matter. That was what he continuously told himself. She was a nobody.
She wasn’t part of his world. And she would never be.
Watching from the sidelines, Uzuki grinned to herself, “Now, let’s see some results!“
“Hey! That’s enuffa that.” A mature voice startled Neku when suddenly, someone placed a hand on his wrist, pulling it down with ease. The boy let out a short gasp, blinking a few times as his head was still aching from his actions.
In front of him, Shiki’s body silently dropped down onto the floor and just a second later, she started coughing badly, holding a hand in front of her mouth, as air finally made its way back to her lungs. She was barely breathing but… She was alive.
Finally, Neku realized: This was over.
Somehow, he couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat in relief at what had transpired in the end.
