The lost composer of London

Prelude To Climax

Most of the living have been extinguished. A few tremble underground. Hardly even morsels to sate me.

Ate most of the Players, a few corpses as well. Weak weak weak.

I need a hardier meal.

"Okay, so he has these super slick shades and awesome blonde hair, but absolutely no babes in town are into him! And here I am thinking 'Here's the coolest guy within a million miles, and he doesn't get ANY?!' I mean come on, Johnny's big enough to suplex a bear if he wanted to! That's hot as hell."

Joshua chuckled at Amy's ramblings. "Your American cartoons are so bizarre."

"Hey man, your Japanese cartoons ain't much better. I've seen Sailor Moon; that shit is the most boring fru-fru shit I've ever seen!"

"What about Mobile Suit Gundam?"

"The fuck is a Gundam?"

Neku and Brad sat further down the sidewalk, feeling thoroughly embarrassed. The barricades Joshua set up were effectively keeping out the ghouls, giving all the Players time to rest and recover from their wounds. Most didn't utter a sound.

"Your friend is really into old cartoons," Neku commented. "She must have named three different shows that I've never heard of."

"Yeah," Brad sighed. "I don't know about any of that, I don't watch TV much. Amy's always tried to see everything, including kid's stuff."

Neku raised an eyebrow. "So you can talk like a normal person."

"Huh? Oh, haha, yeah. Whatever trend Amy gets into, she usually drags me into with her."

"Is her current phase 'Fresh Prince of Belair' couture?" Neku grinned at Brad, who just looked perplexed. "Ah, no TV, right. Anyway, you don't have to do whatever she does you know. You can be your own man, I'm sure she'll respect you more for it."

Brad shrugged. "Amy's been my best friend since we were little. It's always been this way. Grouping up with her IS me being my own man, it's what I know."

"Mmhmm. And what if she isn't around for you to copy?"

"Never happened."

"It could."

"It won't."

Neku chuckled. "Well now you're just jinxing yourself. Trust me man, you're going to want to build your own spine. Isn't independence the most important thing in America or something like that?"

"And isn't codependence how Japan runs itself? A bunch of people playing the same roles for their entire lives to make the country run?" Neku scowled, which Brad took as confirmation.

"I guess we're both a little anti-establishment," Brad ended with some satisfaction. "I'm sure you have your friends and dependencies, just like I have my own thoughts and opinions. But in the end we're still not quite what everyone else wanted us to be."

"What are you, my fucking psychologist? You wanna talk about my mom next?"

"Nope. I just want the week to end so Amy and I can get on the first plane back home. Fuck the Reaper Game."

Well there's something we can agree on. Neku stood up, tired of loafing around. He looked through the church windows to see how the survivors were holding up. There were barely over a dozen inside: some were kneeling before the cross and praying for their eternal souls, while others were weeping and lying catatonic in the pews. Neku wondered if they could see the Players outside, or if they saw only him. Neku thought he should put on a more confident air, just in case they looked outside to see him.