"Open wide~"

"I can feed myself thank you!" I snatched the plate of pancakes away from Joshua, towards me. Joshua pouted and grabbed the plate of food, bringing it closer to him. He was sitting on the opposite side of the table we were both at.

"I'll give you the food if you let me give you this one bite," he said, holding the plate of food even farther away from me. He raised the fork with a bite of the pancakes in front of me again, and my face heated up. Oh, you little-

"Fine! Just this one. Geez! You're so annoying when you want something," I said. Joshua paused, and placed a hand on his hip, expecting me to say something else.

"What's the magic word?"

"Oh, my god. Please," I said, just longing to eat something. I was too famished to argue with him.

"Well someone's a bit hangry now aren't we? But, I suppose that's good enough." Joshua raised the fork to my mouth and I reached over to it and took the piece of the pancake off with my teeth. I chewed and swallowed, feeling slightly humiliated.

"Can I have the pancakes now?" I asked hopefully, not wanting to go through another experience like that again with him.

"But that was fun."

"Just give me the pancakes!" Joshua rolled his eyes and passed over the plate full of food as well as the fork. As I began to eat the food, Joshua stared at me closely. I pretended not to notice as I ate the pancakes, remembering how tasty Mr. Hanekoma's cooking actually was. Speaking of Mr. Hanekoma, the only customers I've seen him get were those like Neku and his friends, Joshua, me, and those who either liked the place or were just lost.

I finished the plate, relishing how good it tasted and stood up, feeling my strength come back. I went walk past Joshua when he grabbed my arm.

"Wait. Do you mind telling me what happened before I arrived?" Bingo. Right on the jackpot. My hands clenched the plate in my hands as I looked down. Joshua slid the plate out of my hands and onto the table. I bit my lip, before taking in a deep breath. "... Alright."

I explained everything, from having Solaris over, to finding the necklace, to now. Joshua listened intently, taking in every little detail into careful consideration, as I told my tale at Nikolai's. Just thinking about the name caused me to loathe it even more than I already did. As I finished, Joshua stayed sitting for a minute before standing up abruptly and pulling my body towards him. He brought me into a tight embrace and I froze, unsure of what to do, before hugging his torso back.

We stayed like that for a minute, before I pulled away, flustered.

"Um, thanks, I needed that. We can go after I set the plate in the kitchen." He nodded and let go of me, pulling out his phone to occupy him instead. I gingerly picked up the plate and turned on my heel, walking towards the kitchen.

What was that about? Joshua's been acting strange since we returned from the Higher Plane. He's less... snobby? In a sense anyway. I set the plate and the silverware in the sink, seeing the dishwasher running. I left the kitchen to see Joshua waiting at the front door of WildKat. I joined him and let him lead the way out of the cafe.

"You better not be taking me to Lapin Angelique," I said, shivering at the thought of entering the store with him.

"I still have that bunny parka you gave me for Christmas," Joshua said.

"OK, to set things straight. I got that as a gag gift for you, and you wore that thing around all day, saying you liked it," I pointed out. It was true. I had gone into Lapin Angelique to get a present for Joshua as a joke (I did get him an actual present that year) and ended up picking the bunny parka, which Joshua happily accepted. Joshua scoffed.

"Why wouldn't I like it it? It was from you dear~ So what's not to like? Besides, I just want to get you a nice dress from there."

"I don't have a choice in this do I?" Joshua giggled in response and I had a feeling that he would notice if I tried to ditch him to avoid going to the store. We were in front of the 104 building when I heard someone call out to Joshua. Both of our heads turned to Neku who casually walked up to us.

"Joshua, I need to talk to you." That's right. Neku wanted to talk to Joshua before, when he ended up telling Mr. Hanekoma about what was happening.

"Aw~ You're reaching out for me~ See, you do care for me, but I'm with someone else at the moment," Joshua responded, grabbing my hand. "Try another time though and you might have a chance."

"This is important," Neku snapped. "Is there a Game going on?" Joshua looked at Neku suspiciously for a minute.

"Why would it matter to you?"

"Because I just saw Taboo Noise take out a Support Reaper." Taboo noise? But that's only appeared when Sho Minamimoto was the Game Master during Neku's second week. What were they doing back?

"Look who's interested in the Game that you so longed to be away from. Where?"

"Oh, so now I have your attention," Neku said, almost mocking how Joshua usually talked.

"Thanks for the info, but I need to go. It's rude to keep a lady waiting to go shopping. I'm sure you know the feeling," Joshua winked, about to leave when Neku grabbed his arm. "Just wait one damn minute. It won't hurt to stop your schedule to listen to me."

"Oh! Then by all means, would you like me to kiss your feet as well? Polish your shoes?" Sarcasm dripped off of every word Joshua said.

"Just listen! OK? The Taboo Noise have been popping up everywhere recently and have nearly entered the RG. I was hoping you would know about it. The pins don't work anymore so it's useless to try and stop them myself," Neku said.

"This is definitely news to me, that's for sure. The Taboo Noise will stay in the UG, we'll figure something out to get rid of them so don't worry. But try not to just talk about the UG out loud like this. Someone could overhear. And I thought you knew why the pins don't work. They only work in the UG," I said. Neku looked at me, as if he forgot I was there, which wouldn't have been the first time. There was an awkward air of silence between the three of us, before Joshua spoke up.

"Hey Neku, would you mind doing me one little favor?" Joshua asked. Neku looked as if he had already had a conversation with Joshua like this before and crossed his arms.

"If this is about the Game, then no."

"Aw, at least hear me out. You see, I'm planning on getting rid of my Conductor, and I may or may not need a replacement afterwards."

"I'm not becoming a Reaper." Neku's answer was short and straight to the point. Joshua's lips curled downward.

"But Neku, even after all we went through... You wouldn't do that for me? Your words hurt me."

"Ugh, will you answer my questions though? I can't find Mr. Hanekoma to ask him." Neku adjusted the headphones that were on his ears.

"If you'll become my new Conductor I might consider it." Joshua smirked and leaned on my shoulder, checking out the nails on his hand. Neku groaned, probably questioning why he sought out Joshua in the first place. I gave him an apologetic smile and he turned towards me. "Would you be able to answer my questions?"

"Depends, but would you mind stopping in WildKat later to continue this conversation. Possibly around five or so. It's not a good thing to talk about this out loud and I need to go shopping to keep Joshua from getting cranky." Neku snickered at this but nodded anyway and left, saying goodbye.

"I don't get cranky," Joshua said, once Neku was out of earshot.

"Yeah right. I've seen you before."

"Ok, I'm definitely getting you a dress now."

I sighed, seeing no use in arguing with him and allowed him to bring me to Lapin Angelique. As soon as we walked in, the girl at the counter, Princess K, greeted us.

"Welcome! I see you're back (Y/n). If you need anything just let me know." I nodded to her and noticed that Joshua had disappeared somewhere in the store. How did I lose him? It's not even that big of a store. I looked around and found him checking the dresses and he threw one to me, as well as some accessories.

"Go and try that one."

"It terrifies me how much you're into fashion for women's clothing," I admitted.

"Don't tell me you're jealous of my natural talent," Joshua said, smirking to himself. I rolled my eyes and looked at the Lolita styled dress that he had picked out. In all honesty, everything in this store was probably Lolita. Walking into the changing room, I slipped on the dress after taking off my casual clothes and examined myself in the mirror. The dress was actually cute. It was a mid-thigh black dress that had a black corset with criss-crossing (f/c) ribbons on the front. The dress was rimmed in (f/c) and the short shoulders were slightly poofy. The skirt itself had black and (f/c) ruffles, as well as mini (f/c) bows around it. To complete the look, I had shiny black heels with (f/c) ribbons on them, knee high black and (f/c) socks, as well as a ribbon wrapping around my waist to connect to a huge (f/c) bow in the back. I walked out of the changing room and looked for Joshua who was nowhere to be seen. I was about to ask Princess K where he went when I felt someone's hot breath on my neck, making me jump, about to hit the person behind me, who was just Joshua being Joshua. He smirked and walked around me, looking me up and down, examining the outfit he picked out.

"That looks beautiful on you dear! Just perfect! Compliments your (h/c) hair perfectly. A nice reflection of your eyes. Shows off your curves... Yep, that's the one we're getting. Oh! I almost forgot!" I felt him pin something in my hair and I looked into a nearby wall mirror to see a (f/c) flower clipped in it. Joshua held out a bag to me. "Here, this is your other clothes and whatever else you were wearing in there."

"When did you have time to get it all?! I just came out!"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head on it. Mind if she wears it out?" He turned his attention to Princess K who merely shook her head.

"Oh! Not a problem Sir! Just pay up here and you can leave with it." Joshua nodded and pulled out some money to pay for it. "Your total is 39990 Yen." I nearly choked. That was a lot of money to spend on just one dress! Joshua paid and told her to keep the change, and tugged on my hand, leading me out of the store.

"Thank you for the dress but... Joshua! You need to stop paying so much on me! Besides, where do you get that money? You don't have a job," I pointed out. Joshua rolled his eyes and snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him as he leaned his head on my shoulder.

"So many questions." Joshua chuckled, which caused my heart to skip a beat for a second. What's wrong with me? I only feel this way with Joshua... When we're alone at least.

"S-So, where do you plan on taking us next?" I asked, cursing myself for stuttering. Joshua noticed and jumped on it immediately.

"Is someone stuttering? My, are you embarrassed by me? I'm not that irresistible am I? I mean, I knew that I was good looking but you just make it so blatantly obvious dear~" By this point, Joshua had taken his hands and grabbed my head, leaning his forehead against it. I opened my mouth to say something but couldn't find the words. "Cat got your tongue?" His hands had moved from my head to one around my waist and the other supporting my upper back. My face was burning red as my chest was exploding with emotions I had never known before. I moved my hands under his arms to hug his upper back and tried to look up at him. I ended up brushing past his lips with my own, which made me freeze instantly. I felt small sparks from it but Joshua didn't respond from it either. No, don't be stupid. It was an accident...

Right?

We were friends, nothing more, nothing less.

Then why did he save me and get all upset when he was gone?

I'll most likely never know the answer to that question and it would most likely be a secret Joshua would take to the grave, with all the other secrets he has. But that's just the thing.

I want to know more about him... Be able to truly understand him. He can read me like an open book, but it's like I hardly know him. If he were a book then I was only a chapter into his story. I want to know his story...

I want to know the true Joshua, and not this facade he put up for the world to see.

"Well," Joshua began, chuckling, "that was unexpected. But that didn't mean that I didn't enjoy it~"

I buried my face into his shoulder and squeezed his skinny torso. My chest was overflowing and my heart was beating faster than usual. "The cat still has your tongue, huh?" I shook my head and swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat.

"C-Can we just... C-Can we just go?" I asked, stuttering once again. Joshua pulled away from the embrace and put his finger under my chin, forcing me to look in his mesmerizing violet eyes.

"Of course dear~ Any place in mind?"

"Maybe something sweet," I offered, trying to take my mind off of the past few minutes I had been in Joshua's company. But knowing Joshua, he can't refrain from making some kind of remark or flirtatious answer.

"But nothing can be sweeter than you, my dear~"