Shibuya Snapshots

Cracks

Major NEO:TWEWY spoilers to the end of the game. Read at your own risk.

While Nagi may have caused his mask to fall away, Kanon was the one who caused the cracks to break it in the first place.

-xXx-

Fret wouldn't call himself a person who knew exactly what to say in every situation. In fact, he'd say he's quite the opposite. He's kinda awkward and cringey and overdramatic, so he doesn't have too many friends.

His only friend is plagued by dark thoughts on the daily, and nothing that Fret says can make a difference. So when his friend asks how Fret's day has been, he says that he has a good day, even when he's had a horrible one.

And despite Fret trying to lighten any possible burden that his friend has by putting up a temporary mask, it doesn't help or make a damn bit of a difference.

Now, his friend is gone for good, and the mask on his face is now permanent.

He meets Rindo a few years later. He was quiet and Fret had always wanted to see what was up with him, since he was confident that poor Rindude didn't have any friends.

So he acts as he always does when he talks to others: bubbly and friendly and always ready to cater to a friend's need.

But Rindude deflects a lot of it. He doesn't take too much to flattery (to which Fret jokingly calls him a tsundere until he got a withering glare in response) and doesn't go out places himself a lot. Fret ends up being the one to invite him places, just the two of them since Rindude isn't a huge fan of crowds. And Fret likes it. It's just the two of them.

Normally, Fret would ask the others where they wanted to go and would follow the lead. Except Rindo is extremely indecisive, so Fret has to take the lead. And because Fret has spent so much time going to places other people want to go, he also has no idea where he wants to go.

Funny how that works. He's paid so much attention to other people and their needs, he's neglected his own and forgotten about them. Talk about ironic.

They end up wandering the city together and Fret always feels like he has the chance to remove the mask he's wearing, but it's instinct, at this point, to just not take what they do seriously and go with the flow.

Which turns out to be a horrible idea when they're unwillingly entered into the Reapers' Game and it turns out that their lives are actually on the line. At least it's not just them...?

Actually, on second thought, it might just as well be. Nagi refuses to acknowledge him in any shape or form besides the occasional response to a comment of his, followed by her denying that. And while Mr. Minami is totally cool and everything... he doesn't really help them at all outside of combat. He always just scampered off and observed them from the side, muttering to himself. Not even looking at his phone. Did he have one? Come to think of it... Mr. Minami hasn't even officially joined their team yet. Maybe he can't join because of the lack of a phone. Meh... it won't matter, later. It'll all work out.

Speaking of teams, Fret has pegged the leader of the Variabeauties as being just like him. The mask part, he means. Kanon has managed to get a large team where all of the members respect her.

But that's when he notices their differences. Kanon isn't actually putting up a mask. She's being honest with her team, and her natural charm and empathy draws people to her. And she cares. But he can tell that she is hiding angero. More than likely towards the Game.

Fret enjoys seeing her and exchanging friendly banter with her, getting her to laugh. Cheering people up, especially in a situation as stressful as this, just makes him feel like he's being useful. He can't handle all the serious stuff so he lightens the atmosphere instead.

So during the second week, long after Mr. Minami has joined them and Beat's taken his place on the team (and hoo boy is Beat a relief to have. He's strong and actually participates in missions before! And, he's played and won before. This round they've got in the bag, for sure!), he's not sure how to feel when Kanon calls him out.

She's the one to put the first crack in his carefully crafted mask. She tells him the facts that he's been denying. He's not being genuine. He's not being true to himself. And the huge part of him that looks up to her takes it to heart, the cracks widening. And now, it's up to let it shatter.

He tries to hold it together for as long as he can.

And when, a week later and Shokie has joined them, Kanon is erased in front of him after they desperately changed the timeline as much as possible, the mask is very nearly gone, a small fragment of it clings to him.

But enough of him shows through that Kanon is able to find what she's looking for from him before she fades completely.

The next day, Fret opens up a bit. He tells the others about his friend that died. And, as if picking up his want for a topic change, Beat tells them all that he'll carry them through the end of the Game.

All thoughts of his current thoughts are thrown out the window when Mr. Minami attacks them, and Beat nearly gets erased by him, until the legendary Neku appears to save the day. And Fret's too preoccupied with making sure they get his help (even though Beat's already got them covered by that point) and expressing his shock at such a title through a compliment that Neku seems vaguely confused by but ends up just shrugging it off.

Battles become a cakewalk, even the following day when Shiba recreates previous Reapers and Players and forces them to fight the Noise attempting to occupy their lingering souls.

And then they come across the Noise copy of Kanon and Fret finds himself resisting the urge to remake his mask as the copy attempts to recreate a past conversation they've had. But the voice is wrong and janky and not smooth and she isn't waiting for a response before continuing the conversation.

To Fret's absolute surprise, Nagi is the one who rips his mask the rest of the way off. Screeching encouragement at him. And her analysis after the battle makes him feel nice, on the inside. Tells him that she at least understands what he's going through. And Nagi flashes him and the others a smile that's different than the other ones which usually only appear when luck is on their side or Mr. Minami says literally anything.

So Fret decides to play the EleStra game that she's obsessed with, but he finds that he's doing it out of his own free will. He wants to play it to become as good at communicating as she is while still managing to be himself.

So after the Game ends and everyone is back, Fret still keeps his promise to Kanon to be genuine and learns under Nagi how to communicate.

While Nagi may have caused his mask to fall away, Kanon was the one who caused the cracks to break it in the first place.

-xXx-

Once again one of the "the prompt escaped me" situations, but again, I'm satisfied with what I've got here.