(no subject)
Apr. 9th, 2010 10:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sozettaslowTitle: Neku's Choice
Series: The World Ends With You
Genre: Gen-fic, oneshot, maybe slash if you're wearing goggle
Rating: PG-13 for slight swearing
Summary: Joshua thinks he could have made the last game harder. Neku doesn't agree.
Arthur's Note: I have never actually read Sophie's Choice, but I have skimmed and wow, it's depressing.
“I still hate you, you know.”
How they had gotten here was uncertain. One day, Neku had gotten tired of Joshua’s apparent silence and marched into the fishpade past the river- how he’d gotten through the barrier he wasn’t sure- and sat there, refusing to leave until the Composer arrived. Then a few objects had been thrown. After that, though, they managed to resume their pseudo friendship very quickly.
So even as Neku was saying he hated Joshua, their backs were pressed together, balancing each other out as Neku sketched and Joshua meddled with his cellphone.
“For something in particular, or just in general?” Joshua asked vaguely, not looking up from his phone.
“Well, you’re an asshole in general, but I meant the final game.” Neku shifted a little to glare at him. “That was a hell of a choice you made me make, even though it turned out not to matter.” Between Shibuya, or the one person who really understood him. His life, everything he knew, all the people he’d learn to care a little for, all his friends-- against this asshole sitting back-to-back with him who he knew he’d miss, even though he wouldn’t say it aloud. He still didn’t know why Shibuya had been saved, and he didn’t ask. Neku was a little afraid that if he did, the whole thing would unravel and come crashing down.
Joshua, apparently uncaring of Neku’s inner monologue, shrugged. “There are worse choices to make.”
The headphoned boy stared at him. “What, you could think of something worse to do?”
The teen giggled, eyes narrowed in that dangerous way that made Neku very nervous. “Have you ever heard of Sophie’s Choice, Neku?” The blank look on Neku’s face only got him a sigh. “I assumed as much. It’s a book, dear. You should read it.”
And then he turned back to his cell phone, meaning that if Neku wanted to know what the hell he was talking about, he’d have to read the book. His head fell back, the pain of it knocking into Joshua’s dimmed by the very annoyed look he received.
Neku bought the book at a little bookstore near his house, and immediately he could see that progress would be slow. It was not a happy book, which was maybe why Joshua seemed to like it so much- but the thing was, Sophie made a lot of choices, even if they were through inaction. He kept asking Joshua if that was the one he meant, because if it was it didn’t make sense, but the Composer always smiled mysteriously and told him to keep reading.
Eventually, he only read it in Joshua’s presense- it was getting hard to remember which ones he was supposed to ask him about. Still, he was getting frustrated as he reached the end- before he found it.
Neku stared at the page, reading it over one more time. Then, after giving Joshua a glare, he threw it straight at the Composer’s head.
Joshua caught it, probably by manipulating time and space like the cheater he was, looking amused. “Find something interesting, dear?” he asked sweetly.
“Her children,” Neku said, crossing his arms, “They made her choose which of her children would live- the most important things in the world to her. Right?”
“Yes,” Joshua confirmed, opening the book and flipping through it absently, though his eyes never left Neku.
“You asshole,” Neku muttered, pushing himself off the couch and storming out, “What makes you think that’s so different from the choice you gave me?”
By the time Joshua understood what Neku was saying, he was gone.
Series: The World Ends With You
Genre: Gen-fic, oneshot, maybe slash if you're wearing goggle
Rating: PG-13 for slight swearing
Summary: Joshua thinks he could have made the last game harder. Neku doesn't agree.
Arthur's Note: I have never actually read Sophie's Choice, but I have skimmed and wow, it's depressing.
“I still hate you, you know.”
How they had gotten here was uncertain. One day, Neku had gotten tired of Joshua’s apparent silence and marched into the fishpade past the river- how he’d gotten through the barrier he wasn’t sure- and sat there, refusing to leave until the Composer arrived. Then a few objects had been thrown. After that, though, they managed to resume their pseudo friendship very quickly.
So even as Neku was saying he hated Joshua, their backs were pressed together, balancing each other out as Neku sketched and Joshua meddled with his cellphone.
“For something in particular, or just in general?” Joshua asked vaguely, not looking up from his phone.
“Well, you’re an asshole in general, but I meant the final game.” Neku shifted a little to glare at him. “That was a hell of a choice you made me make, even though it turned out not to matter.” Between Shibuya, or the one person who really understood him. His life, everything he knew, all the people he’d learn to care a little for, all his friends-- against this asshole sitting back-to-back with him who he knew he’d miss, even though he wouldn’t say it aloud. He still didn’t know why Shibuya had been saved, and he didn’t ask. Neku was a little afraid that if he did, the whole thing would unravel and come crashing down.
Joshua, apparently uncaring of Neku’s inner monologue, shrugged. “There are worse choices to make.”
The headphoned boy stared at him. “What, you could think of something worse to do?”
The teen giggled, eyes narrowed in that dangerous way that made Neku very nervous. “Have you ever heard of Sophie’s Choice, Neku?” The blank look on Neku’s face only got him a sigh. “I assumed as much. It’s a book, dear. You should read it.”
And then he turned back to his cell phone, meaning that if Neku wanted to know what the hell he was talking about, he’d have to read the book. His head fell back, the pain of it knocking into Joshua’s dimmed by the very annoyed look he received.
Neku bought the book at a little bookstore near his house, and immediately he could see that progress would be slow. It was not a happy book, which was maybe why Joshua seemed to like it so much- but the thing was, Sophie made a lot of choices, even if they were through inaction. He kept asking Joshua if that was the one he meant, because if it was it didn’t make sense, but the Composer always smiled mysteriously and told him to keep reading.
Eventually, he only read it in Joshua’s presense- it was getting hard to remember which ones he was supposed to ask him about. Still, he was getting frustrated as he reached the end- before he found it.
Neku stared at the page, reading it over one more time. Then, after giving Joshua a glare, he threw it straight at the Composer’s head.
Joshua caught it, probably by manipulating time and space like the cheater he was, looking amused. “Find something interesting, dear?” he asked sweetly.
“Her children,” Neku said, crossing his arms, “They made her choose which of her children would live- the most important things in the world to her. Right?”
“Yes,” Joshua confirmed, opening the book and flipping through it absently, though his eyes never left Neku.
“You asshole,” Neku muttered, pushing himself off the couch and storming out, “What makes you think that’s so different from the choice you gave me?”
By the time Joshua understood what Neku was saying, he was gone.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 06:26 am (UTC)The use of Sophie's Choice was very clever, too, especially since Joshua (who I've always pictured to have something of a western background) already knows about it, but Neku (who probably doesn't know quite as much about English language literature) doesn't get the reference and has to go find the book. I sort of wondered when reading this whether Neku would be able to find a copy of Sophie's Choice in a Japanese bookstore, but the book is famous enough where it probably got a translation. Uh yeah I overthink fanfic, haha.
Anyway, I liked this a lot. <3
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:42 pm (UTC)I'm glad you liked it! ♥
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 05:07 pm (UTC)YOu got their attitudes perfect! Great job, dear~
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 05:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 05:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 07:59 pm (UTC)Really heart-tugging ^^
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 08:23 pm (UTC)