The Game (Neku x Reader)

Chapter 10

Neku was the first to react as he abruptly stood up, clenching his fists at his side.

"What the hell you prick? What makes you think it's OK to just barge into other people's lives? As far as I'm concerned, I finished your stupid game a little while ago and should be left out of the UG. I don't think that as a Composer, you have kept in touch with any other former Players. You just show up when its convenient," Neku said as he glared at the Composer before taking in a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he tried recomposing himself. Joshua, on the other hand, merely smirked and crossed his legs, running his finger over the smooth surface of the object that had burned Neku not long ago.

Joshua clicked his tongue. "Now now Neku. There's no need to overreact about these kinds of things. It's perfectly normal to talk with others about personal issues and conflicts from time to time. And as a matter of fact, I do keep in touch with former Players. After all, you are sitting next to one that I talk with a lot."

I took a glance towards Neku who had looked over towards me, causing me to shift uncomfortably. Neku didn't respond but had taken a seat next to me again. My phone had buzzed in my pocket and I looked at Joshua who shrugged, silently telling me that it was alright to check who was trying to contact me. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, scanning over the text from Koki.

'Urgent. Routes closed. Being attacked. Reapers Erased. Udagawa Back Streets. Requesting backup.'

The text threw me off as just earlier Koki was asking if I wanted to join him for some ramen. He usually didn't joke around about this stuff and as I was about to respond, my phone blew up with even more texts from other Reapers reporting about the same issue.

"What's wrong dear?" Joshua asked, raising an eyebrow towards me. "You look troubled."

Wordlessly, I pushed my phone across across the glass table to him as he picked my phone up, scrolling through the many reports coming in. Joshua pursed his lips, deep in thought. Neku was the first to break the silence.

"What's going on?"

"Something happened at the Udagawa Back Streets and many Reapers are being Erased because of it," I answered, accepting my phone after Joshua handed it back to me. Neku's face paled slightly.

"That is troubling," Joshua said, "and if you wouldn't mind (Y/n), can you go and assist them in the fight and report back to me?"

I nodded and stood up. "I'll be back as soon as it's over."

Joshua nodded and tossed a few pins towards me. I fumbled to catch them, dropping two in the process as one rolled near Neku's feet. He knelt down to pick it up and handed it to me. I quietly thanked him and picked up the other fallen pin. I glanced at the six pins Joshua threw at me. I immediately recognized the brand of the pins as Gatito, but I couldn't put a name to the pins themselves. The Gatito brand was unique compared to the other twelve brands in Shibuya, as it was not sold in a specific store, nor was it widely known either (despite it being heavily rumored to be related to CAT since it bared a resemblance to CAT's work). The only exception to this was the Red Skull pin that was advertised during Neku's time during the Game, which everyone recognized as CAT's work. Other than that pin, the other Gatito threads and pin sets are only available and visible by Players in the Reapers' Game. As a Reaper in the Game myself, I never thought much into it.

"Those pins will work in your hand so you don't have to pin them to your shirt unless you really want to. I won't judge," Joshua giggled.

I put the pins in my pocket opposite of the ones holding my Reaper pin and Conductor pin and turned my back to leave but stopped when I saw Neku suddenly stood up from the corner of my eye.