#i think he could’ve used someone like lapin to talk to :( i think they would have had very interesting perspectives

[herecirmsims]

15 Questions Tag Game

Thank you @alpine-lapine​​ for the tag! I’ll put the questions and answers below a cut so as not to clog the timeline. Random story screenshot above, just because.

Are you named after anyone? Yeah, a person my mum met while backpacking during her gap year.

When was the last time you cried? I stabbed myself in the eye a few weeks ago on some rush grass, I cried then. It left an ulceration across my cornea (which apparently has the most nerves in the eye?) and was UNBELIEVABLY painful. I spent a couple days unable to see because moving the damaged eye (which I couldn’t open anyway) meant it rubbed against my eyelid and hurt like hell, and I had to keep my good eye closed to avoid the temptation to move my eyes to look at things. I don’t recommend, tbh.

Do you have kids? Absolutely not.  😅

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Not really. I s’pose I might be peak British and say “Oh yeah it was fucking amazing” if someone asks how a bad situation went.  🤔 I enjoy sarcasm when I understand it/know the person using it, but otherwise it stresses me out when people say things they don’t mean.

What sports do you play/have you played? None competitively, I don’t really enjoy them.

What’s the first thing you notice about other people? Their energy, which is the most hippyish response I could’ve said.  🤣

Eye colour? Blue-grey, somewhere in between.

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings! I enjoy a lot of angst on the way there, though. The angst makes the happy ending sweeter, I think, but I like to know that it will end well. Nothing worse than investing myself in a story only to be left feeling sad and empty at the end of it.

Any special talents? Hmm... no. I’m quite good at finding things - noticing small insects or interesting things amongst the stones at the beach, stuff like that.

Where were you born? In the UK.

What are your hobbies? The vast majority of my hobbies are Sims related - storytelling, posemaking, playing. I also enjoy looking for old bottles in Victorian dumps (a lot of farms have them round here), looking for cool things on the beach, bug-hunting, growing vegetables, archery, writing fantasy, hiking.

Do you have any pets? Yes! I have a cat (an ex feral kitten) called Belleraphon or Bel for short, two ponies called Cash and Joey (though they’re really my partners. One was bought because he was going through sales, and with his issues my partner knew he’d have a bad outcome - he’s not ridden and lives in retirement with us. The other was given to us for free by a roofer we had in, and we took him because he’d been living on his own for four years - equines absolutely need company), and two mules called Marty and Xato who are mine (my own! My precious! I bought one for £1 and the other was given to me. I don’t talk about them much in my Sims community circles but I’m obsessed with them... mules are absolutely my number one special interest).

How tall are you? 5′3″

Fave subject in school? English and Media Studies

Dream job? I'd still say author, though whether I’ll ever get over my perfectionist trait and publish anything is another issue. I enjoy writing drabbles for myself, and I enjoy my Sims story which is god-awful but I embrace that - it’s been really freeing just to put down whatever I want to read, and share without overthinking anything. It would be nice to earn money from things I enjoy, but that then puts pressure on them.

I’m not tagging anyone because I tarried and I think everyone who I would’ve tagged has done this already, so if you see this then it’s an open invitation. 

And because I think people might ask, and I can’t resist talking about them a teeny tiny bit... here are my mules. Marty, on the left, was photographed here on his way to the shops; Xato, on the right, was helping me carry sacks of pulled hemlock up to the bonfire. Marty is my going out and about mule (he also does litter-picking, takes bottles to the recycling centre, carries food and luggage on long hikes), and Xato is the work-on-the-farm mule. Though neither have done much at all for a while because sometimes I’m not very good at walking.  😅 

[callixton]

UGHH thinking about how theo made it through the full war and the years of instability afterwards without losing any faith in the royal family and the people he swore to protect and throughout the campaign he sees each of them succumb to the darker impulses their world has to offer and for the first time he wonders if he still believes in them, and if lack of belief means anything in the face of a promise to protect

[blueluneacy]

so uh floyd or rook with a s/o who is an absolute anxious wreck, but can act confident extremely well most of the time? Or, for a more fun (maybe even nsfw one) one of those two having a possessive streak, and after expressing it heavily in some way, they find their s/o feels just as intense as they do but can mask it well?

ill do rook since i just did floyd!

warnings: possessive behavior and stalking but they are more humorous than they are serious haha

You could feel his eyes on you again as you spoke with the others. You did your best to ignore it, but it really was a challenge. First of all, you couldn’t figure out why he was staring at you all the time. It was like all of a sudden, Rook just decided that you were someone that he had to keep an eye on. You did your best not to let on to your friends, to give them a big smile and pretend you didn’t even notice it. Your “confidence” was a strength of yours, even though it was all an act. Maybe acting could be considered the skill here? It didn’t matter either way. What mattered was that you were able to suppress anything and put on a big smile as you spoke to your friends. It was only until Ace mentioned it that you finally acknowledged the trouble you were in.

“He’s looking at you again.” Ace commented. You just laughed, shrugging.

“Well, if he wants to stare, I guess that’s in his right. I look good after all, don’t I?” You laughed. Ace just huffed a bit. You hadn’t told Ace about your feelings for Rook, and you didn’t really want to. It would just make everything too sad. 

“If you say so. But it’s really creepy.” He said, the two of you continuing to walk down the hallway. When the two of you were about to split paths, he stopped and looked at you, pausing for a moment. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you to your class? He’s still over there. I can feel his eyes on us.” Ace said with a shudder. You gave Ace a small smile, before shaking your head.

“Really, you don’t have to worry so much about me! I can take care of myself.” You told him. Ace paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out if she should argue, but just shook his head. Either way, there wasn’t going to be anyway that he was going to be able to tell you otherwise once you made up your mind. That was just the kind of person you are. You waved as you watched Ace walk off, sighing a bit as you let yourself deflate. This was hard, really really hard to keep yourself acting confident. You must have said something wrong to Rook. What was the only reason he could’ve been following you like that, right? You barely noticed him finally starting to approach you until you turned into a desolated corner. You gasped as you felt the hand on your wrist, pulling you into his embrace as he let himself purr into your ear.

“You know, it’s really awful to watch you tease me like that, Mon coeur. Do you like making me jealous?” That was Rook’s voice in your ear. What the hell was he going on about. You tried to turn your head to look at him, but Rook only gripped you tighter.

“I-I, I don’t know what you’re talking about?” You tried to pull away and for a moment, he let you go. But as soon as you tried to step away, he used the opportunity to pin you to the wall. You could finally see Rook’s face, the wild look in his eyes. You wished it scared you more than it did, instead of giving you just the slightest bit of thrill.

“You don’t know? Really?” Rook seemed almost teasing in his tone, making your face heat up just a bit. You did your best to will it away as he spoke. “You haven’t noticed how jealous you make me when you talk to others? How much I want to scoop you up and keep you for myself?” Rook told you. You paused, looking up at him and blinking. This was a joke, right? It had to be a joke. There was no way Rook could possibly…

“What are you trying to say?” You asked, holding your breath. He was fucking with you. He had to be fucking with you. You kept telling yourself as you held your breath, hoping your own emotions weren’t seeping through. Rook smiled, leaning in just a bit.

“Ah, does mon lapin want me to confess so soon? I didn’t think you would be so eager.” He told you. You finally let yourself gasp, looking up at him. Rook let his eyes drift over your form, before you raised your hands. Rook was ready. He thought you would struggle against him, that you would deny him. He was expecting that. But he wasn’t expecting is for you to hold your face and start to smile to yourself.

“I never realized you felt the same way.” You told him, before looking down. “I thought I was being so creepy with how I liked you! I never realized that you liked me too this whole time!” This was probably the first time Rook had ever dealt with someone who didn’t care about his stalking. He looked at you, confused for a moment. But, this was a success! It had to be! He laughed, looking down at you with such a passionate look in his eyes that it made your heart skip.

“Oh, comme c'est mignon. That’s exactly what I dreamed of. But are you sure about that?” Rook couldn’t help it. As much as he loved you, there was a certain thrill out of seeing your shocked face. Any face you made was beautiful, he just had to see them all. “After all, I’ve followed you. I’ve seen a lot of that beautiful face of yours. I even have photos…” He let a gloved finger run along your face. You paused, before smiling even wider.

“ You’re not the only person who does that?! I took pictures of you on my phone a few times, it was so weird of me! I thought you would think I was a total creep! Oh, and I kept a pencil that you dropped once…” You admitted, laughing sheepishly as he looked away. “If I’m honest… I couldn’t stand watching you talk to anyone else, it made me jealous too… So, I guess I sort of understand how you feel…” You told him. Rook’s eyes widened. How could he, after all this time, not realize your feelings for him? He always prided himself on being observant, but your acting skills had actually gotten past him. He cooed as he pulled your hands from your face the best he could, instead holding your cheek gently.

“Oh, forgive me for not realizing it sooner, mon coeur. I promise I’ll make sure not to do such things to make you so jealous…” He hummed, leaning in. You let out a squeak, any confidence you had going out the window as you felt Rook’s lips press against yours. You froze for a moment, before letting yourself melt into it, reaching to grab his sleeve the best you could to keep yourself calm. You could already imagine the look on your friends’ faces when you told them.

But for now, you just let yourself enjoy a kiss between two hunters of love.

[pricemarshfield]

and sisters

Written for Day 3 of @acocweek​; Hurt/Comfort + Favorite Scene + the Twins.

When Saccharina's eyes meet Ruby's from across the battlefield, it would be easier than anything to kill her. Her arrows aren't anything special; it's her bow that's distinctive. No one would know. But there's something in her expression--the way her fear fades into an acceptance, into a cautious hope, that makes her think of Jet. It's not an expression Jet carried or anything; Jet was all brash confidence and loyalty, would never look at Ruby with anything other than love.

But still.

They talk, Saccharina sitting on a monster and Ruby feeling like one. She lets her bow drop without nocking an arrow, walks through the ruins of her old home and sees the rest of her family alive and well. Frosting on her father's sword reassures her that Jet is well and truly avenged, and Theobald reminds them that Amethar can be Emperor instead of King and that Saccharina can be Queen without her dragon eating Ruby's--their father alive.

Everything's fine, basically. Ruby still feels like she needs to kill someone, if only to do something with her hands.

She wanders the halls with her bow over her shoulder, watches Liam and Primsy awkwardly flirt hanging from one of the windows, goes to the grove and thanks Lapin for everything he did. It'll be interesting to see how Liam's wish works out, anyway, from the capital city.

"I might spend some time here," she says to Amethar at dinner, a rushed affair with too many people and no table manners, like Saccharina's feast in the mountains. Caramelinda gently reminds Liam to keep his elbows off the table, but then there's a pissing contest out of one of the windows.

Ruby's starting to understand what Annabelle means about Candians.

"What, you mean, Candia?" Amethar asks. He's acting like everything's normal, other than making stilted conversation with Saccharina rather than avoiding her entirely. Saccharina seems thrilled, excitedly talking about her plans for bringing magic back.

"Your, um. Your sister Jet," Amethar says hesitantly, and Ruby stabs her fork into the food in front of her. She's not--angry, exactly. Not at Saccharina. She deserves to know about Jet, to hear about the sister she could've known.

But fuck, it's hard to hear it in the room she had dinner with her in thousands of times, where there's still a stain on the carpet from them trying to sneak some of their dad's cola, where a portrait of the two of them hangs on the wall, pinkie-in-pinkie, lockets faintly glowing.

"I'm heading to bed," she tells them with a small, forced smile. Her mother opens her mouth to say something, but she's already made her way past most of the crowd, marauders and Tartguard and Dairy Islander allies and all.

Ruby's room had always been Ruby and Jet's room. It's the first time she's been in it since the night of their Saint's Day, giggling about a trip to Comida to meet Thad and sneak away to join the circus.

If fucking only, right?

She uses magic to quickly light the sconces in the room, casting a shadow that she knows won't have the long braid she wants to see. She turns to look anyway.

Ruby's braids have been in for awhile, and suddenly she needs them out as soon as possible, is seconds from cutting them off far higher than she needs to with her blade just to not have to see them anymore. But--no. She thinks she might let it grow out, enough for a long braid like Jet's.

She sneaks out of the room--people are still busy at the feast, so she can probably find a room with a mirror so she can at least try to get them out without hurting herself or damaging her hair too much.

The first few rooms she tries have people in it--Annabelle and a young Candian soldier she doesn't know, Primsy and Liam holding hands, one of Saccharina's marauders passed out over the back of a chair, for some reason.

The seventh room she checks is empty and has a mirror without a bunch of cracks in it, and she's about to head inside when she hears someone call her name.

Ruby twirls around, already nocking an arrow and drawing her bowstring back when she sees Saccharina, hands raised with a shield sparking between her fingertips. She drops the bow. "Sorry! I didn't--realize it was you."

"Forgiven," Saccharina says, and Ruby's not sure if the twist in her stomach is humor or annoyance. "It's been a long day. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Is everything fine?" Ruby asks. "You should be celebrating."

"I wanted to check on you," Saccharina says, and when Ruby can't quite bite back her expression of disbelief, she continues, "That's part of compromise. Which is part of being family. I'm told."

The awkwardly formality has Ruby's shoulders tensing, but she's not wrong, and Ruby doesn't miss the way that Saccharina seems unsure about it even as she says it.

"I'm okay," Ruby lies, and Saccharina nods with a little frown. "I wanted to take my braids out. You could, uh. Help?"

"Certainly easier than taking them out yourself," Saccharina says, and Ruby exhales a little huff of annoyance. "I can."

The mirror in the room is against a wall, but Saccharina uses some magic Ruby hasn't seen before to levitate it next to one of the chairs, so Ruby can sit on the floor and Saccharina can reach her braids without either needing to contort themselves to make it work.

When Ruby needed to take care of her hair during their travels through Calorum and on the Dairy Sea, Jet would help her. After Jet--after, her dad had been surprisingly good at it, only managing a gruff helped Sapphria a lot as explanation.

Saccharina's fingers are quick and she manages to comb through Ruby's curls to untangle them without yanking her head back. It's clear it's not the first time she's done this, and if Ruby were a little kinder, she'd ask about that.

Instead, Ruby keeps herself occupied by practicing a few cantrips. It's Saccharina who breaks the silence when she's about halfway through Ruby's hair, asking, "Was it because Amethar told me about Jet?"

"Don't--" Ruby says, makes herself stop and take a deep breath. "I--it's not easy, to talk about her."

"I'm sorry," Saccharina says. "I can't imagine."

"It's..." Ruby sighs. She's not generous enough to say something like you lost her, too, even if you didn't know her or feeling venomous enough to say no, you can't, since you never had anyone, did you? even if she is enough of a bitch to think it.

"You don't have to tell me about Jet," Saccharina says. "But if you ever do, I'd like to hear about her."

There's so much Ruby could say, half about Jet and half punishing Saccharina for daring to ask, especially when Ruby's hair is still barely half done.

"I think she would've liked you," Ruby says, and pretends not to notice the way Saccharina's hands still.

"Amethar was telling me that she liked to fight," Saccharina says, and Ruby laughs before she can stop herself.

"She always said she was meant for the battlefield," Ruby says. "She--really loved it. The idea of it, anyway. Flickerish was hers before it was mine. She--"

It wasn't the battlefield that killed her, though. It was Calroy, setting a trap. It was Ciabatta, with the dagger. It was Ruby, daring her to sneak around when they both knew they shouldn't.

"Another time?" Saccharina asks.

Ruby nods, winces when the comb in Saccharina's hand tugs at her hair painfully. Saccharina takes out the rest of Ruby's braids in silence, and they don't say goodbye. But when she goes to sleep in her old room, Ruby's calm enough to fall asleep there.

Progress.

[subasekabang]

Title: Anything To Make you Stay, Chapter 9 Rating: T Word Count: Total: 15,761, chapter: 2,136 Characters: Joshua, Neku, Shiki, Eri, Beat, Rhyme, Hanekoma, Kariya, Uzuki. Pairings: Josh/Neku. Warnings: Suicide, Major Character Death, Depression, semi-detailed depiction of dead bodies, mentions of ableism, one minor allusion to transphobia Summary: Joshua and Neku have been best friends since they were 11, but their friendship starts to fall apart after Joshua goes missing for a week, soon after his 14th birthday. Lies corrode the bond, and Neku’s vivid nightmares of finding someone’s dead body does not help. A year and a half later, they hit the boiling point. Always look before crossing the road, kiddos. Author’s Note: Autistic Josh and Neku! Afab demiboy Josh! Agender Rhyme! Usage of sign language! This was a fun fic to write please enjoy it.

Chapter 9:

Neku wakes up at Tipsy Tose Hall. Josh is already awake, of course. He’s  been like that every day so far. He stands up, brushing himself off.

“Ah, so Sleeping Beauty decided to wake up. The others are already up and about. Beat and Rhyme are heading over to AMX, while Eri and Shiki are seeing if they can head over to Molco.” Josh pulls out his phone, fiddling with it.

Neku pulls out his own when the text tone sounds. “Alright, Erase the Noise at Spain Hill. Should be easy enough.”

“There’s probably a twist to it. Noise feed off of negativity. Some people might be stirring up trouble.”

And off they go, solving the problems of Shibuyians.

While they buy some chili dogs, he takes a moment to stop and think. It’s strange to look back just a few weeks, and remember how much he didn’t care. He didn’t hate people, not with a bitter loathing for each person he met, but besides that friend of his, the rest of humanity could turn to dust, and he wouldn’t have batted an eye. Everyone else was gray, boring, not worth his time.

Now though… Now, he can look around, and see the colors, see the way everyone shines. He suspects that the Music he’s always heard might be related to this side of the world.

Rhyme was the first step. When Josh had that talk with Beat, Neku had his own with them.

They had been frowning, and when he’d asked, they’d said, “I can’t remember my brother.”

“Entry Fee, probably,” was his reply. “Mine was the memories of my best friend. I know I died after we had a fight, and I remember vague things, but otherwise? Nothing.”

They nodded. “It’s the same for me. He’s there, somewhere, but I can’t remember specifics. I hope he’s doing okay.”

“It’s like… It’s not a hole, it doesn’t feel jagged around the edges. More like when a radio is out of tune, or when graffiti gets faded to the point where you can’t see it. If I didn’t know about the Fees, I might not’ve noticed.” That’s a scary thought. Neku knew, at one point, that his friend had meant everything to him. To have this missing piece of his heart be taken forever? To not even realize what was missing? That would’ve been hell.

Then there had been a conversation with Shiki, while Josh was showing Eri some more sign.

“What’s the case between you and Eri, anyway,” he’d asked.

Shiki shrugged. “We’ve been best friends for a while. I’ve always admired her. She was popular, she was sweet, everyone loved her designs. I wanted to be a fashion designer like her. I made Mr. Mew myself, my first attempt at sewing something. Just before we died… We got into a fight, she told me I wasn’t meant to be a designer. I took that bad, it was my fault we–” she cuts herself off, takes a breath, and looks away. “She just meant my talent was as a seamstress. I envied her too much, I guess.”

“You can’t blame yourself for whatever happened!” he’d insisted. “From what it sounds like, she did a lot of the talking between the two of you. She could’ve listened better, thought before she spoke, and maybe that  fight would’ve turned out better.”

“Maybe…” her voice was hollow, unconvinced.

“Hey, listen. A little bit of jealousy gives you something to shoot for, as long as you don’t fixate on it too much. I marched off from a fight with my best friend, only to get run over by a semi-truck. There were things both of us could’ve said to keep it from ending up like that, probably. I dunno, I don’t actually remember much of the fight, cuz of my Fee, but my point holds.” He grinned, nudging her in the side.

Shiki smiles at him, bright and wide. “Maybe you’re right… Thanks.”

It takes longer to figure out Beat. Once he learns that he’s Rhyme’s sibling, it clicks into place.

On day 4, hanging out at the Crossing, they’d had a chat, Beat telling him about Rhyme, and what his home was like. “Our parents were always comparin’ me to them. Sayin’ why couldn’t I be more like Rhyme. ‘Rents didn’t care ‘bout my best, didn’t care at all, so I stopped carin’ too. Rhyme though, they never gave up on me.”

“Hey man, fuck ‘em. If that’s what your parents are like, don’t listen to them. You don’t need that. I’m sure you’ve got something you’re good at, something you like doing. Even if you don’t know what that is, we’re all gonna win, and you’ll have plenty of time to figure it out. You’ve got us now. All of us.”

Eri was harder to talk to, but between her limited signing and paper, they’d discussed guilt complexes and how listening, thinking, was important. He’d gathered she spoke a lot before, so maybe this was a chance to learn patience.

He didn’t know why he was taking in everyone else’s problems. It wasn’t his job to listen and give advice, he’s not a therapist.

But that what he does. These people, everyone, has their own little world, isolated, that they live in. He’d been isolated, before now. Sure he’d had his friend, but they never reached out to others, never tried to live instead of laugh at the caricature of everyone who passed by.

So helping Ai and Mina is less of a bother than he would’ve thought. He’s happy for them, when they make up and walk off.

Day 6 has Tin Pin. They all have a few hours to kill before the slam, so they spend it practicing, playing against each other.

It’s Josh and Neku’s turn to do the 1v1, when Neku decides to chat. “Hey Josh, tell me more about yourself.

“Any specifics you wanna know, dear, or are you just trying to distract me so you have a shot at winning?” Josh grins.

“I dunno, anything really. You mentioned a friend before, tell me about them.” He smiles at Josh, dropping the game of snark they play.

Josh’s grin falters, and he sighs. “He was… He was my best friend. My family was pretty shitty, between being autistic and gender and seeing the UG, I was not the perfect child they wanted. I was weird, kids at school didn’t want to be my friend, and Hanekoma was a good parental figure, but not really a friend. I met him a bit after I turned 11, after meeting Hanekoma, and by that point, I’d learned good and well not to tell anyone about what I saw. So we hung out, explored the city, joked about how other people were, but I never told him. I guess I was afraid that I’d lose him if I did.”

“If he was going to reject you for that, then he wouldn’t have been a very good friend,” Neku says, frowning as he loses another pin in the battle.

“I know, but I didn’t want to risk it. I was a coward. He was everything to me, and I don’t think I would’ve been able to bear the pain if he did reject me. I didn’t think he would, but there’s that voice in the back of my head, reminding of all the times others called me a freak. I didn’t want to be his voice.” Josh looks sad, eyes downcast, mumbling his words, posture shrinking as if to hide away from the world.

Neku feels a surge of emotions, and it takes time to pick them apart. Worry, deep in his gut, over how Josh could’ve ended up in the Game. Empathy (curse hyperempathy, it settles less like a washcloth on his heart and more like a case of cold, biting steel), because he knows the bitter sting of a friend’s rejection.

There’s something else, crawling up from the pit of his stomach and into his throat, a sickly, greyish green spider, spinning a web to clog it all up. It sticks, coating the sides and trapping the emotions inside.

He doesn’t know why guilt is flooding him like this.

Neku would offer Josh a hug, if he didn’t know Josh was touch-adverse. As it is, he pokes him in the side. “Well, we won’t abandon you. You’ve got more friends now, all of us. You won’t be alone anymore.”

Josh’s eyes flit up to him, to see the softness in his smile, the sincerity in his eyes, and he smiles back. “Thank you, Neku.”

The smile is quickly replaced by a scowl as Neku knocks his last pin away, and Neku grins over at him. “You got too distracted by being sappy.”

“Shut up and stop using underhanded tactics, or I’ll find a way to get you in more Lapin threads.”

He narrows his eyes. “You wouldn’t.” It’s not that he really minds, but the theatrics have become a joke now.

“Don’t test me.”

He laughs. “Fine, let’s slam.”

In the end, he takes home the win. Neku suspects Josh might’ve had something to do with Shuto’s malfunctioning equipment, but a win’s a win, and it kept them all in the Game one more day.

They all wake up in the Scramble, once more, for day 7. When six phones chime off in unison, they all grab at them, and let out a collective groan.

^The Game Master awaits you on the freeway. Defeat him. You have 600 minutes. Fail, and face Erasure - The Reapers^

“Well, that’s plenty of time to get ready. Once we’re all set, we should decide which of us will go first,” Josh says.

“You and Neku should be the ones to try first,” Shiki says. “I mean, you’ve both got the best chance, so if you go first, the rest of us won’t risk being Erased.”

Neku looks around, to see Eri and Rhyme nodding, and Beat puts in a “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

So they do the daily shopping (at Josh’s insistence), spending the ludicrous amount of time they have preparing. Neku insists they grind on Noise (what better way to prepare for a battle than to battle, after all?)

It’s late in the afternoon when they finally head down to the Station Underpass. Before they go too far, though, Neku stops and turns around to face them all.

“No matter what happens, you’re all my friends, got that? Once we come back to life, let’s all meet up at Hachiko, yeah?” he asks, smiling.

Eri nods, signing a yes with her hand.

“Of course!” Shiki says.

“You can count me in!” chimes Rhyme.

“I’ll be there, yo!” Beat says.

When Josh says nothing, they all turn to him. Neku raises an eyebrow, and Josh sighs.

“I can’t promise anything,” he mutters, “but I hope to be there with you all.”

“Good enough,” Neku says. “Let’s do this.”

Joshua and Neku walk forward, leaving the others behind to watch on, as they approach the Game Master (Ram Crotch, a voice in his head whispers. He holds in a laugh at the thought).

The most notable thing about the guy, besides the absurd belt buckle, is his usage of food puns. Who the hell says ‘Prepare to be spicy tuna rolled!’ before an epic battle, seriously?

After that, it’s just a matter of dodging attacks and hitting Higashizawa with all he can throw at him. Shockwaves, pyrokinesis, lightning bolts, all of it. He can feel Joshua fighting in the other plane, dropping all types of items down from the sky, from motorcycles to vending machines. He keeps his thoughts focused, syncs up his attacks with Josh’s.

The energy fueling their bond builds. The Music swells, reverberating between them, a crescendo of power, threatening to tip over. It blooms inside him, and he struggles to hold it back, waiting for the opportune moment.

It comes when Neku finishes dodging the balls of energy he flings about. White hot light ignites under his skin, as he throws his hand out and channels all that energy into an attack. Josh picks up on what he’s doing and does the same.

“Another world awaits…”

“And you’re going!”

The meteor plummets into Higashizawa, smashing him into the ground, plowing him down like he’s nothing. Which is exactly what he is now. Nothing.

The battle fades around them, and then they’re back in the UG, wearing matching goofy smiles. Adrenaline still courses through him, but now it’s being waylaid by relief. He has time to glance back at the others, eyes darting away from Josh for a second, before they’re all enveloped in a soft warm light, twirling around them.

They all disappear together as the light takes them to their final judgement.