(Teaser) A New Normal

Teaser

Normal - nor·mal /ˈnôrməl/: conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.

It had been several years after the long game. Since that time, Neku had returned to living a normal, ordinary life. In a sense.

He went to school and hung out with friends as normal kids did. He graduated on time like normal people would. His life would almost be parallel to anyone you could pull from the street. Except it wasn't necessarily Neku's definition of normal. Or at least his old definition for that matter.

Before being thrown into the game, Neku had succumbed to living an isolated life. He held a strong hatred towards people. The unimportant conversations of passersby just rung a dull noise in his ears. After only a short while they would become of an annoyance. He practically tried to remove himself from the rest of the world, using those neon purple headphones of his to tune out everything around him.

Those said headphones that were now missing from his person altogether stood for how much had changed since then.

Neku was currently waiting on the others- the friends he gained from the long game, by their usual meeting place. The statue of Hachiko was very special to them. It is where everyone first met, in real life and the Reaper's Game. Because of this, It held a personal value to the group. Ever since then they had always chosen to meet up there before going off to do various activities.

...Of course, it was not everyone.

Not too long after returning to life, Neku found out that Joshua had resigned from his position as Shibuya's Composer. This wasn't exactly surprising, given what took place, but Neku was disappointed that he hadn't shown his face since the incident. Neku, of course, had meant what he said that day. He hoped to see him again and wanted to rebuild their friendship. All Joshua had to do was show up, but he never did.

Time continued to pass by. Days turned into weeks; weeks turned into months. A few years would pass, and there would still be no sign of him. Neku even went so far as to check in with Mr. H every once in a while to see if he was doing all right, although he would never get a straight answer. Neku acknowledged that he couldn't really forgive Joshua for what he did, at least not yet, but that didn't mean he still wouldn't worry about him. In fact, all of them did.

Shiki and Rhyme never really got to meet Joshua, but it would be easy to assume that they would somewhat to resent him. Surprisingly, the two girls felt nothing of the sort. Shiki had quickly got over her initial first impression toward him when she decided to put the past behind her. After all, if it weren't for him, she wouldn't have gotten a second chance at life, or even met Neku for that matter. That alone was enough for her to cast her initial judgment aside. Rhyme, on the other hand, was just happy to be alive with her brother. She didn't really care about what happened during those weeks, just the fact that they brought her new friends and an opportunity to live again. Beat, however, was indifferent towards the male. All he really cared about was 'pummeling that prissy kid's face in' for what he did. Other than that Beat had no complaints.

Neku sighed as he leaned against the statue. His eyes absentmindedly traveled over various unrecognizable faces as he became lost in his thoughts. People watching had grown as a sort of habit after the games, and he had become pretty good at reading people. He would watch as couples would walk across the streets, and young teenagers hop from store to store. Looking at them, Neku began to recall the current popular trends that Shiki had raved to him about the other day. He had considered changing his outfit, and it wouldn't hurt to get something that was currently in style. His eyes began to search the crowd in search for some inspiration in the form of clothing he might want to try.

It wasn't too long before he was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when his eyes landed on a certain pale blonde young man. Shock would be an understatement to how Neku felt. After all this time, there he stood. For a brief moment, Neku considered walking over there to give Joshua a piece of his mind, but it was then when he realized that the said male was not alone.

With him was a small group that included two females, along with another male. The shortest girl directly to his right had prominent features. Big eyes, bouncing big dyed (at least from what he assumed) curls, and her face also held large expressions. By the current look on her face, Neku could tell that she was very irritated with the male next to her. To be honest, who wouldn't be? He stood there giving her his signature smug grin that Neku had always disliked. The taller blonde next to her was covering her laughing face due to the previous two's interaction. The other male just stood there holding the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

As the shorter girl continued to all but scream at the giggling bunch, the male next to her suddenly went rigid. In that instance, Neku's vibrant blue orbs met with the pale blonde's dull violet hues. For a brief moment, it was as if time had stopped for the both of them.

But like always, time continued. The blonde male suddenly turned and began to walk away quickly, the group following closely behind.

"Hey, Josh, who was that?" The blonde female asked as the group was nearing another popular clothing store.

"Hm? Who was what?" Joshua questioned

"That guy you were looking at?" She inquired noticing him purposefully being uncooperative.

"Hmm... I have no idea what you're talking about dear." the male denied trying to end the conversation.

"Don't give us your bullshit I saw him too. The one with the spiky orange hair." the shorter girl protested also noticing his dismissiveness.

"I can assure you guys that man is none of your concern." the male sharply stated growing more irritated.

"He seemed like he wanted to talk to you though." she challenged.

"I highly doubt it. We haven't spoken in years." Joshua rejected the idea. Was he really pretending nothing had just happened between the two of them?

"Well then why is he following us?" the other male finally decided to join the conversation, jabbing his thumb in the direction behind them. The group then turned around to look in the crowd over his shoulder. Low and behold there was the orange haired male attempting to weave through the massive crowd of passing people, causing the pale blonde to scoff. The other three made brief eye contact before snickering as if they just had a secret conversation.

"Why don't you talk to him? We'll be in this store over here." The blonde female suggested before briskly walking into the store before he could object. The other two quickly tailed behind, but not before the shorter of the three was able to turn around and give him a slight smirk of her own.

Joshua sighed at the group's actions. They were so annoying. He wondered what in his right mind told him it would be a good idea to join them on their Shibuya shopping spree. He frowned at the realization it was his own fault that he got stuck in this current situation in the first place.

"Josh?" Neku called as to what he had hoped was the male in question. The pale blonde then turned around now with a snarky grin etched on his face instead of the previous frown.

"Why hello Neku dear, it's been a while hasn't it?"

Maybe this could be the beginning of a new normal?