"Hey! Neku!"

I ran towards the group of teens as they were waiting outside of WildKat, near a store called "Jupiter of the Monkey", where Neku was looking inside the window, peering inside at some pins and threads that were on display in the window. He turned towards me when I called out his name.

"Hey (Y/n), are you OK? That was pretty rough back there," Neku said. I nodded, unable to get what Mr. Hanekoma had said out of my mind.

While there was more than one person that I could name that knew of the situation at hand, Mr. Hanekoma was the only one who offered to explain things.

Neku was right about Mr. Hanekoma being someone you could count on for information regarding the UG and I had seen it firsthand even in the Game. There was something about him that just drew me in; a welcoming aura that made me feel like he was trustworthy. Even then, he did try and help us when Katsumi and Naomi had barged in.

A hand in front of my face brought me back to reality as Neku then waved my phone around in front of me, knowing he had my attention. A wave of deja vu passed over me as I suddenly thought back to Koki when he tried bringing me out of my daydreams.

I took my phone from Neku and thanked him as I opened it and saw a few messages from multiple people. One of which, was the one person I was dreading to see, but at the same time, I needed some answers, and whether or not I would get something from him was the real question.

"Your phone blew up when we came out here," Neku said, as I flipped through the messages. Two were from Koki while the remaining one, belonged to the Composer himself. Koki's message wasn't my top priority but I still read it to not seem like a complete jerk to one of my only friends in the UG. He wanted to know if I wanted to meet up with him somewhere for ramen as Uzuki was busy with another job.

I glanced at Neku and everyone else before quickly typing back a message explaining that I was busy and would join him for ramen another day.

When I checked the message from Joshua, my heart stopped in its tracks and dropped as I became frozen in my place, rereading the message more than once to confirm that what I read was accurate and that my mind wasn't playing tricks on me.

'There's an emergency. Come to Dead God's Pad, the main area as soon as you can. Bring Neku only. I will worry about crossing him over.'

I swallowed and pocketed my phone. The last thing I wanted was to bring Neku back into the UG in anyway, but I didn't have a death wish either. I wasn't going to straight out defy the Composer, who I knew would throw me into one of his own games if he was feeling bored or agitated about something. Neku noticed a troubled expression on my face and crossed his arms, expecting some kind of response or answer as to why.

"U-Uh, Neku, you wouldn't happen to be busy after this, would you?" I asked, feeling self-conscious at the sudden attention on me. The orangette shook his head.

"Hang on yo! You da new Conductor? What's up wit that, man?" Beat asked. I already knew deep down that they were going to ask questions about that.

"Yeah, I am, and I'm technically not supposed to be wandering the RG like this but the Composer likes to make my life hell from time to time, except, I can't be mad at him for what he did earlier," I shrugged and Rhyme took this as he chance to ask a question of her own.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you become the Conductor?"

"The Composer asked and I agreed but it's only temporary. I don't plan on staying the Conductor of Shibuya. Speaking of that guy though, he's asked me to bring Neku to him so he can speak with him. Apparently it's an emergency and that he will cross you over into the UG temporarily to see him when you enter his area," I said, half expecting him to say no. To my surprise, Neku spoke up.

"Alright, fine. I've been meaning to have a word with that prick anyway. He didn't bother talking with me earlier today. He was just waiting for you to show up," Neku said as he looked over at me for the last part. I nodded and took a glance at Beat and Rhyme, who said they had something to do afterwards anyways so they were heading out anyway. Shiki, asked to tag along to look after Neku and I ended up denying her request, explaining to her that the Composer only wanted to talk with Neku. My eye twitched when she mentioned she wanted to look after Neku. They all left after a few, leaving Neku standing awkwardly near me.

"OK, then we can leave now. He wants us there as soon as possible so we'll need to head to the Shibuya River," I said, beginning to lead the way towards Dead God's Pad. Each day of my life just brought more questions to the table, confusing me even further and to top it off, next to none of them ever received an answer.

"I remember this place," Neku said as he glanced around Dead God's Pad. His voice echoed, being the only noise in the area as it grew silent again, once his voice had stopped being carried through the walls. The glass of water I had out the other day was still on the table, the remaining water in it seemingly untouched, and just how I had left it. There was a certain atmosphere in here that was distinctly different from that of WildKat's. At WildKat, it was friendly, welcoming, while here, it was more... I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Empty? Lonely? Cold perhaps?

I leaned against the wall, waiting for Joshua to show up as I noticed how Neku nervously shifted back and forth on his feet. I thought about how Rhyme and the others would react if they were here. Oh, Rhyme probably would be slightly confused, I thought, she never met the Composer before, whereas Neku, Shiki, and Beat all have seen Joshua before. Shiki and Beat met him when the previous Conductor had been Erased if I recall correctly.

"Ah~ Perfect, I had a feeling you two would be here. Now let's get down to business then, hm."

All of us turned to see Joshua standing right where the door to the Room of Reckoning was. One of hands were shoved carelessly in his pocket as the other tossed a small container in the air that was slightly bigger than his hand.

"What was the emergency?" I asked.

"Straight to the point as always (Y/n), but I feel that it's necessary to discuss certain... events that just took place. Wouldn't you agree?" He stopped tossing the object in the air and just held it in his hand, staring at it's shiny metal surface. What was it?

"You probably already know what happened don't you?" I said. Joshua smirked and twirled a stray piece of his hair around his finger, before flipping it over his shoulder.

"I'd rather hear it from someone who was there. In this case you all were there so there's multiple reliable sources here." Joshua took a seat on one of the white couches and crossed his legs and gestured towards the couches, which held up to three people each (four if you were small enough to squeeze on it). "You are a guest Neku and I'd hate for you to stand when there are these lovely couches to sit on. They are quite comfortable."

With some hesitation, Neku sat down on the couch across from Joshua and I saw his eyes widen in surprise for a split second as he felt the couches when he sat down on them. I took a seat next to Neku, but still giving him his personal space at the same time.

Silence hung in the air as Joshua had pulled out his phone to busy himself before putting it away and looking expectantly towards me. A sigh escaped me lips as I began to retell everything that had happened, beginning with finding the strange pin, to leaving them with Mr. Hanekoma. I left out the part of Mr. Hanekoma giving me information, unsure of how Joshua would take to that, or how he would react.

By the time I had finished, Joshua was silent, deep in thought before he giggled and looked at the small container in his hands.

"Well, he's getting more reckless. It's not like he actually needed this," Joshua said.

"What even is that?" Neku asked. Wordlessly, Joshua tossed it as Neku fumbled to catch it. Neku tried opening the container, only for it to release a burst of imagination that exploded at the lid of the container, much like an electrical line as it circled the cylinder, burning Neku's hand, which caused said person to drop it and hiss in pain. I shot a glare towards Joshua who smirked in response as he leaned down to pick of the container.

"Oh, did I forget to mention? Trying to open it will burn you severely. Of course, none of us can actually open it," Joshua added, seemingly unconcerned with Neku, who was clutching his hand.

"Neku! Are you OK?!" I asked. Neku nodded.

"I'm fine no thanks to him," Neku replied, glaring at Joshua as the violet eyed boy twirled a strand of his hair between his fingers, ignoring the conversation. I stood up and motioned for Neku to follow me as I walked around the bar in the back, turning the sink on as cold water flew out of the faucet like a waterfall. Neku had followed me without saying anything as he held his hand under the cool water, mumbling a profanity towards the ash-blond Composer, who didn't have a care in the world at what he had just done by not giving us a warning on what the container actually does.

Neku asked Joshua, "What does that container hold? And if none of us can open it, who can?"

Curious to this as well, I tuned into their conversation as I searched under the bar for bandages of some kind. If any area had bandages in Dead God's Pad, then it would have to be near the bar as the rest of the room was bare, with the exception of alcoholic beverages which were strewn about the room on carts and the glass table between the couches. As I pushed bottles aside, under cabinets, Joshua spoke up.

"Hm? Why, only Angels can, of course."

"Angels? And you're oh so graciously giving us this information because..." Neku snapped and trailed off. He turned the faucet off with a gentle touch.

"It's called being nice dear," Joshua retorted as Neku's eye twitched in annoyance. I reached towards the back of the cabinet and grasped the cloth-like material, pulling it out with a small tube of ointment and a roll of medical tape. From the corner of my eye, I saw Neku take a step to walk away and I stood up holding the sterile wrap of bandages for him to see.

"Stay and let me see your hand."

"No, (Y/n), I don't need special treatment for a burn," Neku said.

"Neku... Don't make me ask twice," I warned. He rolled his eyes and went to move back to where he was previously sitting. Reaching out, I wrapped my hand around his wrist, stopping him in his tracks as he spun around. I already had the cap of the ointment off and was spreading it on the blistering spot on Neku's hand. While I wrapped his hand, Neku didn't protest anymore than he did previously, silently watching as I wrapped his hand in the bandage, using a piece medical tape to secure it. When I was done, I placed the materials back and Neku quickly walked away, seeing a chance to leave, and seizing that opportunity.

I walked back around the bar and took my seat next to Neku, across from Joshua, the former of which was feeling the bandages I had wrapped. I may not have been a medical expert, but in a matter of wrapping a burn, I had experience beforehand from Noise that had fire-based attacks.

"What's so special that the guy wants it back so badly?" I asked. Joshua shrugged and let out a lengthy sigh.

"You all have so many questions. And I wouldn't say it's that special. He's just overreacting. Besides, I can think of a more interesting topic than this one."

I leaned back against the couch, dreading Joshua's next words.

"Why don't we discuss how the two of you are feeling about each other after today's events."