Chapter Text
Hazuki and Yoshiya were at least friendly, which was why they were atop 104 tonight, discussing the imminent repercussions of the newest Long Game.
“Father will want to talk to you. I can assure you he’ll come down just for the occasion.” Yoshiya laughed, listening to the song of Shibuya underneath the hustle and bustle of the city. It was like a soothing hymn to his ears, he could pick out each individual voice. Hazuki must have also been listening, since his face seemed tense.
“Mother will want you to deal with your errant Reaper, I’ve every confidence she will see you in person too.” Hazuki’s eyes sharpened, and his hands were firmly in his pockets.
They stayed like that for a while, listening to a song that Joshua had stopped a long time ago.
“I had forgotten what the song used to be,” Yoshiya gave another wry smile to his Brother, “but now that I can hear it again, I’m reminded of her. He fights for her, you know, enchanted by the ancient song.”
Hazuki knew, of course, who Yoshiya meant. At the bottom of the Shibuya river, through which flows the waters of Shinjuku, rested a very old Soul, a Soul that sang, that danced through the wind and over every face of Shibuya in the morning light. She was as powerful as she was beautiful, and old. Not quite the goddess that Yoshiya had dethroned, but one close to her.
“It is a pleasant song, but it is not yours. Why are you playing it?” Hazuki asked, his hands balling into tight fists as he fought off the tears in his eyes.
“To try and bring my errant Reaper home, as you so aptly described him. This was the song of his Soul too.”
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He awakes to the skies of his own Shibuya, and in his ears rang the sound of his song.
It’s unfamiliar, and yet entirely expected; his Soul resonates with Shibuya easily this way, finding its rich tenor amidst the shrill sopranos, a vibrato that runs through each voice, carrying with them the words of a prayer. He’s only ever heard this song once, in the memories of the one that rests at the bottom of the river.
Neku finds him, crumpled up in the corner of the crossing, a little worse for wear and his clothes a mess, but alive.
“You look like you’ve been through hell and back. At least you’re in one piece again.” The former proxy offers him a hand, picking him up off the ground with ease despite their weight difference.
“You still acting as a variable in his function?” Sho asks cryptically, his yellow eyes watching Neku carefully for his reply. The young adult barely bats an eye.
“More or less. I’ve been sent to retrieve you, please, come quietly.” Neku quickly realises the signs of Minamimoto’s fatigue before he does, catching the Reaper just under his arm when his knee tries to escape from under his weight.
“Man, what were you doing out there?” Sho doesn’t answer him as they walk towards the river, Neku hastily shoving a salmon onigiri in his face, which he eats without protest. It’s still early for the city, but the rush of water would have drowned out the sound of people anyway. Walking through the Path, Sho found his balance and managed by himself until they reached the pad. Inside was just as he recalled, glass floor, decor looking just as Kitaniji had left it. Joshua was currently seated on one of the two couches, a cup of hot coffee in hand and phone in the other.
“Oh good, you came. Hang on, I need to call in Coco, too.” Josh flashed them a bright, toothy smile, and Neku rolled his shoulder disinterestedly. Since becoming Joshua’s Conductor, he’d been given free enough reign to straddle both Planes of existence, but actually working with Josh like this was a foreign feeling.
“I thought you’d given up on my matrix, what’s going on here?” Sho mumbled, laying himself down on the couch in such a way that didn’t cause anything to hurt. Josh sighed, sipping at his coffee carefully.
“Well, as much as I don’t care about what you’re doing, there are those above me who do. Depending on what Mother has to say, it may be the end, so to speak.”
The three sat in silence, Neku deciding to fall asleep while he could, Joshua filtering through the thoughts of the city and Sho mulling over his coming demise. He should have known this day would come, right when he’d arrived at the answer too.
He’d been sent back here, in part because the song called him, and part Hanekoma throwing him around like a stray cat and bruising his ribs.
Coco arrived next, all flowers and pastel colours, her normally cheerful face sullen instead. She fidgeted with the object in her hands, eyeing Josh like a wounded animal unwilling to entrust it to his care.
“I want to keep it.” She said, decisively. The Composer raised his frequency ever so slightly, causing Neku to stir and the Reapers to hiss in pain.
“Mother will need it, dear, or I can erase you instead. Your choice.” Josh hummed, returning to the appropriate frequency as Coco slowly shuffled forwards to give him the item. A chess piece carved to look like a lion’s head was placed into his waiting hand.
“There’s a game next week, Coco. I expect you to do your job, especially if you want to keep in contact with Tsugumi.” The Composer watched his peon pale and then flee the pad with expediency. He tossed the chess piece in the air absently as he waited for time to pass. It took another hour before Mother arrived. She was heralded by the buzzing of a frequency being tuned, and it made every part of Sho want to run away and kill something. Neku stretched his shoulders, waking up as their guest came into the pad from the hidden door.
Dressed in a soft lavender tea gown, white gloves, white kitten heels, enough pearls to shame a colony of muscles and hair pinned perfectly into a bun, Mother was every part a matriarch. In her off hand, a delicate fan that covered half her face, and in the other, a tiny clutch purse. She walked in tiny steps, and when she talked, it was quiet and unassuming.
“Joshua, my dear son, we’re ready now.” Joshua rose from his seat when Mother finished, the rest of the gathering following him through the secret door to a different room. Unlike the Composer’s room, which was filled with a model Shibuya, this one was a long hallway, the floor and walls a barren concrete. Following the path eventually yielded to a circular space, and inset in the floor was a statue of a woman. She was baring her back to the world, a tattoo of a fox’s skull painted over her olive skin, her body trapped against the intricately carved stone that depicted a large, fiery monster.
“Minamimoto Sho, you were once extended grace, and you have decided to throw it back in Joshua’s face.” Mother’s eyes were black coals as they focused solely on Sho, who himself was transfixed on the statue. He knelt beside it, his hands hovering just above touching it, something hungry in his expression.
“We’re giving you one more chance, one more attempt to redeem yourself. If you succeed, we’ll give her back.” Mother began to speak in another language to Josh, leaving Neku to marvel at Sho’s behaviour, his eyes and nose wet and his Soul ablaze with a number of different emotions; including despair.
“Hey,” Neku squatted next to the mathematician, “You okay?”
Sho tore his eyes away from the figure at last, standing tall and marching to the pair from the Higher Plane.
“I’ll do it. Whatever you irrational integers have in mind, I’ll do it.”