Note: Beat's accent is nearly impossible to do, so I'm going to try my best, but I'm probably only going to do the obvious stuff. For the most part, he'll be speaking like a normal person. I'M SORRY!

Disclaimer: No matter how hard I wish it, I'm not a member of the Square Enix, Jupiter, or Marvel companies, and thus I have no rights to the original characters.

Sanae Hanekoma breathed in the warm steam from his coffee mug before sipping it. Setting the cup down on the table, he looked at the boy across from him. Neku's face was troubled, and he seemed to completely ignore the coffee he had paid for.

"So, Phones, what's got you so worked up? You said it was important," Hanekoma's face revealed a small frown as he saw Neku look down at his feet for a few moments, instead of answering. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure if he should tell Mr. H; all of this worry could really just be nothing.

"Mr. H, before I tell you, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Phones, what is it?"

"Am I…" Neku's voice was quiet, almost nervous. He averted his gaze from man in front of him and instead traced the patterns on the wooden tabletop with his finger. "H-have I…died again?"

"No," Sanae said, almost smiling, thinking that maybe this was some kind of denial thing. He'd heard that some people, after going through the Reaper's Game, and coming back to life, usually didn't believe they were alive again for quite some time. That, or denied the fact that they died in the first place. One thing that troubled him, however, was that Neku had won it nearly three weeks ago. "You're very much alive."

"That's…good," Neku said slowly, but he could tell the boy was not relieved with that answer in the slightest. If anything, this just furthered his panic.

"Neku, tell me what's bothering you." A frown was hid behind a high collar, and worried blue eyes were concealed behind a curtain of long orange bangs.

"At first," Neku said with an intake of breath. He calmed himself, and then took a sip of his quickly cooling drink, before continuing. "I thought that maybe I was just imagining it; that my mind was still in overdrive from the end of the Game. But, as time went on, it never went away."

"What never went away?"

"I can still see the players; each week, from start to finish. I can see everyone who's been dumped in Scramble Crossing, I've seen all those players get erased by the noise. Uzuki and Kariya, sometimes, during the week, even come and talk to me."

"Really?" It was then that Mr. H remembered an occasion that occurred not but a week ago—Neku had come over with a backpack and two or three grocery bags filled to the brim with lollipops. He helped Neku get rid of them as the boy explained that Kariya had shoved them into his locker with a note; Hanekoma hadn't been paying attention so he couldn't remember what the note had exactly said. (1)

"Yeah. But that's not all that's been going on. I would've been fine if that was all it was; just seeing them, but…"

"But?"

"Yesterday, Beat and I were walking home from a Tin Pin Slammer tournament, when I saw that the noise were attacking a player."

"Wait a minute, a player? As in…?" Neku nodded grimly.

"Her partner had been erased just minutes before. I couldn't stand seeing it happen to her, I think it was because it reminded me of the Taboo noise. I got really angry and I pulled out my Lightening Rook."

"You still have it? I thought you stopped carrying them when you got out of the Game." Neku shook his head, sticking his hands in his pockets. Upon bringing them back out and opening them, Hanekoma saw at least twenty pins. The one that stood out the most, however, was the Player Pin, which the players used to read people's thoughts. Neku stuck them back in his pocket.

"I've kept all of them, they're in a bag I keep hidden in my backpack. I stick the best ones in my pockets. I don't know why I did, when I started to, just that I felt…incomplete, or something like that, without them." Wanting to return to the problem at hand, Hanekoma gently urged him to continue talking.

"I didn't notice what I was doing until I had jumped in front of her and had started shooting lightening at the kangaroo noise."

"You WHAT?" That had to be wrong. Neku wasn't a player anymore; pins were impossible to use in the RG for anything except Tin Pin! Not only that, but psyches couldn't be used without a partner, and Neku didn't have one.

"I know; I didn't think it was possible, either. All I know is that it happened."

"But, how…?"

"I don't know. Even if it was possible to use it in the RG, I didn't have a partner." There was silence for a few moments, both males thinking of possible explanations.

"…Didn't you say you had Beat with you? Maybe he…"

"No," Neku said, cutting him off. "I lost him somewhere in the confusion when saving the girl. I don't remember seeing him before or after I had raced off and saved her; I had walked home alone afterwards."

"Hmm…anything else you wanted to talk about, Neku?"

"On my way home, I dropped my Player pin."

"And?"

"I accidentally read someone's thoughts about Ms. May as they came out of the Shibuya Dept. Store."

"Who?"

"Sorry; that's what she asked me to call her. It's May Kurokawa, the saleslady at the Glamour Selects store."

"Oh, so, what's bothering you about it?" Sanae joked, knowing full well what it was. But after hearing the boy was already using the other pins, it didn't shock quite him as much as it should have to hear that the Player pin was working for him, as well. "The thoughts, that is. Did someone think something nasty?"

Neku blushed and turned his head away from him, opting to stare out the window instead. "No. I did freak out about reading someone else's mind, though. But you can't blame me for that."

"Yes," Sanae said pleasantly, taking another sip of his coffee. "I can't say that I would have reacted any differently, in your situation."

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Professor Charles Xaiver removed his helmet that connected to Cerebro. He then called up Scott, Jean, Kitty and Kurt to the room with his telepathy. It didn't take long for them all to show up.

"What is it, Professor?" Scott asked. Then his eyes, hidden by red sunglasses, looked up at the computer screen. "You found a new mutant?"

"Really?" Kitty said, her eyes sparkling. "We haven't found a new one in, like, forever! What are his powers?"

"I don't know," Charles admitted. "Cerebro just picked him up suddenly; I can't tell much about him. Other than personal information and the fact he's located in Shibuya, Japan. Here, I'll bring up his file." He typed on a few keys and Cerebro zoomed in on a file labeled "New Mutant".

A picture of a fifteen-year-old boy came into view. His bright blue eyes were hidden behind long bangs of orange, spiky hair. He was very thin and a little on the pale side, but not a whole lot. His hands were pressing blue headphones to his ears, as though trying to drone something out with the music. He wore a blue and black sleeveless shirt, with white shorts.

"In Japan?" Scott asked finally. "Isn't that kind of far?"

"Not in the X-Jet," Jean reminded him. (2)

"We'll be leaving tomorrow to get him," Xaiver told them. "So be ready to leave at seven AM."

"So, Professor," Kurt said, finally joining in on the conversation. "What's his name?"

"Neku Sakuraba."

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"See you later, Mr. H," Neku said as he walked out of the Wildkat, pulling on his headphones. "I'm going to go meet the others at Hachiko."

"Bye, Phones," Hanekoma said. "And watch out for cars! Wouldn't want you to get run over, eh?" Neku smiled at the joke.

"Alright. Have a nice day!" And with that, Neku had run off. If it had been to meet anyone else, Neku probably wouldn't have come all the way to Cat Street this early in the morning, especially when he had to meet his friends, as he had previously stated, at noon on the other side of town. However, Mr. H was as precious to him, if not more, than his friends were. The man was like family to him—in a teasing uncle kind of way, but family none the less.

And besides, Neku knew he could make it before noon. He had more than half an hour left to get there, and he had once made it to Cat Street from Scramble Crossing in less than fifteen minutes. The dog statue was only around five minutes from the Scramble.

Neku was confident he would get there with plenty of time to spare.

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"Do you see him?" Rhyme asked, standing beside her brother, Beat, who was taller than her and was able to see over the crowds of people.

"Not ye'," He said. Then a flash of orange caught his eye, and he squinted. "Yo! I think I found 'im!"

Sure enough, the orange-haired boy walked over to them, panting slightly. He had forgotten that when he had gotten to Cat Street in less than fifteen minutes, that he had been running, and that he had had an adrenaline rush caused by panic. When he had remembered, he had started running as fast as he could.

"You okay, man?" Beat asked.

"I'm fine," Neku replied, catching his breath. When he was done, he straightened up a bit and looked around. "Is Shiki here yet?"

"She went to go get a coke from the fast food place," Rhyme answered for him. "She'll be back in a sec."

As though summoned by the other girl's words, Shiki appeared with a soda and a black stuffed animal. Neku claimed that it was a pig, but she kept telling him it was a cat. She smiled when she caught up with the group.

"Hey, Neku! So, are we ready to go see the new movie?" Mixed versions of the word "yes" came from the rest of the group and they began walking.

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The next day, when Neku woke up, he noticed that it was nine o' clock in the morning. How nice, Neku thought as he yawned and sat up. What was today? He had something boring to do today, but what…

Then Neku's brain turned on. It was Monday; school had started almost an hour ago. CRAP! Neku jumped out of bed, racing over to his closet, nearly running into it when his sleep-fogged mind had forgotten to open it until the last minute.

He threw on his uniform shirt and slipped on his socks. Thanking the heavens his hair was so naturally spiky, so he wouldn't have to brush it, he began brushing his teeth. Then threw his headphones around his neck, turning on the mp3 player, so that he could still hear his parents, but also have some background music.

Grabbing his schoolbag, Neku raced down the stairs—nearly slipping and falling down them in his hurry. He ran past the living room, not noticing the strange new people sitting in it. A long string of the word "Crap" ran off his lips in his panic to get ready.

"Morning!" Neku shouted, shoving bread in the toaster. "Can't stay, overslept—gonna be late for second period if I don't hurry!" He went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of orange juice.

His foster parents were Americans who moved here some time before they adopted him. His mother still had a lot of trouble with Japanese, so it was a near requirement that he speak English in the house. He was near perfect at the language, since he had been speaking it for a few years now, but still had a slight accent.

He ate the toast quickly and ran for the door when he saw people in his living room. He stared at them for a little while; they stared back. A string of curses he prayed he said in Japanese ran from his lips before yelling, "Mom! Strange people broke into the house again!"

"Neku!" His mother yelled, coming from the backyard. He could see his dog, Cujo, dancing around out there through the window. He sighed; he had gotten that dog a few days after he had won the Game as a "Welcome back from the 'hospital'!" father had named it "Cujo" in memory of some book he had read when he was a kid. Personally, Neku didn't think it fit because Cujo was a playful Yorkshire Terrier, not a rabid St. Bernard that that Cujo had been in the book. (3)

"That was rude, son. Apologize to our guests," She told him. He sighed and turned to face the group. Bowing respectfully, he said, "Gomen."

His mother then giggled and informed him that they were American and only one of them spoke Japanese.

Sighing again, Neku apologized again, this time in English and less politely than he could have. "Have fun with your 'guests' mother; I have to get going. I've already missed first period, and I'm going to miss History if I don't hurry." He was already turning to leave, setting his orange juice on the floor beside him so he could slip on his shoes. "Beat and I have a science project to work on together, so I'll stay after school or go to the Wildkat to work with him. Either way, I'll be late coming home."

He checked to make sure he had his pins in his pockets before he stood up again. Opening his orange juice, he walked toward the door. "See ya, Mom." He was opening the door when his mother spoke.

"Neku, wait for a minute. The reason I didn't wake you up was because I wanted you to stay and talk with them, for just a little bit." Neku's hand reached into his pockets again and closed around the Player pin. He took a few moments to read the minds of all the people in the room before he responded.

"No. They want to take me to some place in America; I'm not leaving Shibuya. I don't care if you think going to America is a good idea, I'm not leaving."

"How did you—?" His mother's eyes widened. She looked over at Professor Xaiver, who was looking thoughtful. When he had first explained why he was here, she had been skeptical, but now… "Did you just…?"

"I'm going to school," He said coldly. He walked calmly out of the building until he reached the sidewalk, then broke into a sprint.

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"Well," Kurt said a little while after Neku ran out the door. "That went well." The sarcasm was light and playful, but obvious nonetheless.

"I'm so sorry," Neku's mother, Cathy, said. "I don't know what came over him. He's usually such a sweet boy; he's just a little antisocial, but he's been getting better…"

"It's fine," Professor Xaiver told her reassuringly. "If he really does have X-gene, he may be frightened. Most people don't react positively to becoming different, for one reason or another." At this Cathy laughed, causing her guests to look at her questionably.

"Neku, I'm afraid, has always been different," She told them when she finished laughing. "The boy practically breathes music."

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When the last bell rang, Neku wasn't the only one to run out of the building. He was, however, the only one who was thinking of something other than schoolwork or freedom from the educational system. Beat and Rhyme were walking to Cat Street with him; Shiki was staying after to work on a sewing project with Eri.

"Why were you so late to school, Neku? You usually get there before the rest of us do," Rhyme asked as Beat nodded in agreement. Neku looked down, hiding his face behind his bangs and high-collared shirt.

"My mom had some people over, and forgot to wake me up."

"People? Wha' kind a' people?"

"Americans," Neku replied simply, not revealing anything that happened this morning.

"You need to stop being so vague, Neku," A voice said from behind them. Both Beat and Rhyme jumped in surprise upon hearing it. Neku, who had long ago gotten used to him popping in on him on random occasions, casually looked over his shoulder to see Joshua standing there. "You should tell them about the school."

"Hi, Josh. What's up?" It had taken a long time, but Neku had come to forgive Joshua for what he did. Mr. Hanekoma made him think from Joshua's point of view, and was able to see his reasons. Joshua was the first person that really understood him, and the first person that Neku could understand, so he did have a bit of a hard time keeping a grudge, especially since Joshua fixed everything.

"Nothing much."

"Yo, what school? Phones?" Beat asked, looking at the orange-headed teen beside him. Neku looked thoughtful for a moment or two, as though debating on whether to tell him or not.

"They want to take me somewhere for gifted people in America; I don't want to leave Shibuya. I'm not going no matter what, so it doesn't matter, really."

"Neku, this could be a great opportunity for you. I know you don't want to leave Shibuya, but just think it over, okay?" Rhyme told him. Upon seeing both of Neku and Beat's expressions at the words, she amended, "I don't want to see you leave, Neku; you're my friend. But you need to think about your future." Of their group of friends, she was the one who thought things through the most.

"But…" Neku sighed. "Rhyme, I don't want to leave. Shibuya is…everything. It's you, Beat, Joshua, and all my other friends, the inspiration for both my art and my music. I've lived my whole life here, but my eyes were only opened recently. I don't…I can't leave Shibuya. Not after everything that's happened."

"Aw…" Joshua said, giving a wide smile. "You're making me blush, Neku."

"Shut up, Josh."

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After a while of walking, they arrived at Cat Street, and more specifically the Wildkat café. Joshua and Rhyme sat at the bar, whilst Neku and Beat stuck two café table together and placed the supplies for their project on them. Plaster mix, a poster board, food die, kitchen supplies, and of course Neku's favorite sharpies.

"What are you guys going to do for your science project?" Mr. H asked, curious as he saw the various materials, laid out on newspaper so as to not make a mess.

"A classic third-grade vinegar and baking soda volcano. The poster board is to glue the reports and facts to, as well for me to take my artistic liberties," Neku said, grinning as he began gluing a three-page report to the board. "Can you help us mix the plaster?"

"Sure," Hanekoma said. "Hey, Josh, why don't you help us? I know you love arts and crafts!" Joshua sighed and shrugged, abandoning his coffee on the counter to help.

Neku was busy decoration the poster board with his art, making sure to make the report and facts stand out with color contrasts instead of cover them up. When they had finished mixing the plaster, Sanae stole one of the sharpies and helped Neku with the poster. Beat and Joshua set up the volcano, Rhyme helping when necessary.

After a few hours, they had finished and were celebrating with Mr. H's pancakes. Hanekoma also made sure everyone called their parents so he wouldn't be blamed if they got in trouble. Neku turned the vinegar in a bottle of Mountain Dew red with food dye, and stuck it in his backpack.

The front door's bell jingled, and Joshua turned to face the newcomers, but upon seeing their faces his own turned cold. Forgetting the greeting he was going to give them, Joshua turned back around and whispered into Neku's ear, "Don't look now, but those 'guests' are here."

"What?" Neku mouthed back, schooling his reaction. "How did they find us? This shop is the least visited on the planet, even more so than hippie thrift store in Dogenzaka! You don't think they came here for me, do you?"

"I don't know, Neku, you're the one that can read minds, you tell me."

"Welcome to Wildkat!" Mr. Hanekoma said with a smile, but he didn't miss the conversation between the Composer and proxy at the bar. After all, he was only standing a few feet away from them. "What can I do you for?"

He was met with looks of utter confusion. "They're Americans," Neku whispered, nearly inaudible, "They only speak English." Well, now, that explained a few things. He repeated the greeting, this time in English.

"Um…how about some coffee, and muffins?" The girl with long red hair answered for the group. Along with her was a boy with red sunglasses and short brown hair, a younger girl with long brown hair pulled into a pony-tail, and another boy, younger, with medium-length blue hair.

"Sure. Hey, Neku, Josh, can you come help me in the back?" Hanekoma asked, not waiting for the boys to reply. They both nodded and slid over the counter, following him to the back.

He turned on the coffee machine. "Josh, can you get four cups out of the cupboard? And Neku, what's got you so worked up?" As Joshua walked over to the cupboards and got out the cups with startling familiarity, Neku told Mr. H about this morning, and about how he didn't want to leave Shibuya.

"What do you think of this, Josh?" Mr. H asked the blonde, who was pouring the coffee. Neku loaded the cups on a tray, but didn't move just yet; he wanted to hear what Joshua was going to say.

"I noticed them as soon as they came to Shibuya," The Composer said calmly, leaning on the countertop. "I don't like them. They're good people with good intentions, but their presence is messing up Shibuya; they're different. What's worse, they're trying to take Neku away from Shibuya, who means just as much to the town as the town means to him."

"See?" Neku said. "I can't leave Shibuya!" Mr. H frowned.

"Neku…" But Neku had already walked back into the café's front with the tray for coffee. Noticing Neku's hands were full, Rhyme jumped from her seat and opened the half-door that separated the rest of the shop from the store counter. Thanking her, Neku headed over to the table where the strangers were sitting.

"Four coffees?" He said in his slightly accented English. The girl with the red hair nodded and he began passing out the drinks. "What kind of muffins would you like?"

"Chocolate chip!" The blue-haired boy said excitedly.

"I'd like a blueberry one, please," The brown-haired girl said. "My name's, like, Kitty. What's your's?"

"Neku," He replied. "What about you two?"

"I'll have a blueberry, too," The red-haired girl replied. "Scott?"

"Hmm?" The boy just seemed to notice they were ordering. "Oh, right. Sorry, I don't want anything."

Neku nodded and began to go the back room when the door opened again. Shiki and Eri ran into the room, in fits of giggles. "Hi, guys!" Shiki said, smiling. She then saw Kitty and her friends in the corner.

"Oh my gosh!" She yelled. "Mr. H actually has customers!" Then, realizing what she had just said, she flailed her arms and tried to amend. "I mean—uh…I'm sorry!" Neku and the others just laughed.

"You're such a spazz, Shiki," Neku said. "Relax; they're Americans who don't speak a word of Japanese. Mr. H is in the back."

"Oh, does he need any help?"

"Nah, Josh and I have it covered."

"Cool," Eri replied. "In that case, two hot chocolates, please."

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a minute. And Shiki, don't bother the customers in the corner; they're Americans and having their clothes removed in public to get a button fixed is considered very offensive in their country." Shiki rolled her eyes, muttering something along the lines of, "Do that one time and…"

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"Be careful heading home, alright, Phones?" Mr. H told him as Neku gathered his supplies. The boy nodded and turned towards Beat.

"I've got the poster, can you and Rhyme handle the volcano?"

"Sure, man. You can coun' on me."

"Cool. Makes sure he doesn't loose it, Rhyme." The young girl chuckled and nodded. Neku said his good-byes and began walking home.

After the long trek home, Neku expected to go straight to bed. What he didn't expect was for the man in the wheelchair from this morning to be sitting at the table in the kitchen talking to his mother. When Neku's mother heard him come in, she called him over.

"Sit down, Neku, I want to talk to you." Uh-oh, Mom's using the firm and authoritative voice; I must have pissed her off this morning.

"If this is about this morning, I'm sorry," Neku said as he sat down. "I know I was being kind of rude to you, and I shouldn't have been." His mom's expression softened for a second before going back to the 'I'm-your-parent-so-you-have-to-listen-to-me' face.

"It's not about that, Neku, though I'm glad you realized your mistakes." She placed her hand on his. Neku shivered at the coolness of her skin. "I want you to listen to what Professor Xaiver has to say."

"Mom, I'm not going to this…Bayville place," Neku told her, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration when he tried to remember the name he had pulled from the group this morning. "I'm not leaving Shibuya."

"Hunny, please, just hear him out. It's a wonderful opportunity and I think you would love it there. You don't have to say yes, but please just listen to him and think it over." She ran her fingers through her son's hair. Neku muttered something she didn't quite catch. "What was that?"

"I said you sound like Rhyme." She smiled.

"She told you this already?" Neku nodded slowly. "Glad to know someone sees my point. Neku, dear, this school has great programs for a gifted student like you. And it's…ah…"

"It's what, mom?"

"It's…cheaper…" She hated mentioning money around him. Neku was a child, and shouldn't be involved with things like this. It was a parent's job to make money, not the son's. However, she was going to lie about her husband's struggling work. Neku always seemed to make himself involved, anyway, no matter how hard she tried to keep him out of it.

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Professor Xaiver watched as the boy's gaze dropped to the floor at the mention of money. Curious, he read his mind a bit. He knew it was a little impolite, but he had been wondering about this boy all day. What were his abilities?

Upon further inspection, Charles learned that Neku went to a special school quite a few blocks away from his home. The school only tended to those of higher-level thinking. Meaning, it was a school exclusively for "geniuses". He also learned that this school was very expensive and that his parents were having some problems with their income.

"But, mom!" Neku said after a little while, regaining himself. "I'm already in the advanced courses in Kaio. My scores are near perfect, aren't they? That's…that's what you said. Why do I have to go to a different school?" (4) It seemed that he was going to ignore the money altogether.

"Neku…I…" His mother seemed to be at a loss for words.

"If I may," Charles interrupted. "I would like to speak privately with the boy." Neku and his mother both froze and turned to him, as though just remembering he was there. Cathy turned to look at Neku for a moment, before turning back to Charles and nodding.

"Just listen to him, okay, Neku?"

"O…okay, mom. But I'm not going to guarantee anything." The woman chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"I don't expect you to."

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They had sat there for five minutes without a word going between them. Now that they were here, Charles wasn't exactly sure what to tell the boy. He had no idea what his powers were, and if he really did have some strange form of telepathy, like himself and Jean, then Neku probably already knew a bit of what was going on. However, he could have also just as easily heard things from his students that morning, and pretended to know. Why he would do that, though, Charles had no idea.

Neku was strange though. With the other potential mutants he visited, even the kids older than him would fidget and squirm and try to start up a conversation by now. Neku just waited patiently, quiet as a mouse, for Xaiver to speak. Occasionally, his hand would move to his mp3 player and change the song that was playing from the headphones that had been moved from upon his head to around his neck so he could hear the conversation. Well, if there was one.

Charles had never seen a child this introverted and quiet. It almost disturbed him. Scratch that, it did disturb him. The boy didn't even smile at him. Perhaps, though, that last fact was because he didn't want to be here.

"Sir," Neku said politely, drawing Xaiver out of his thoughts. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm a student and tomorrow's a school day, so if we could just get this over with…?"

"Right. I apologize, my thoughts wandered."

"'S fine," Neku replied voice slurring a tad bit in his sleepiness.

"I wanted to talk to you about the opportunity of going to school in America," He wasn't used to dealing with a child like Neku, so he was going to have to do this a bit differently than normal. Neku was silent, as though waiting for him to continue.

"Why?" He asked after a while. "Why am I so special? Why do you think I need to go to a school in America?"

"Why, exactly?" Charles responded thoughtfully, trying to word what he wanted to say next. He thought Neku rolled his eyes at him, but that could have been a trick of the light.

"Yeah. My mom and I have been getting all of these letters from some school in Massachusetts. There about as insistent as you are," Neku said. "What was the headmistress's name…? Ms…Frozen, Frostbite…oh yeah! Frost."

Frost was already contacting the boy? When did this start? Hmm…maybe Cerebro needed some upgrades… "When exactly did she start contacting you?"

"Why does it matter to you?" Neku replied icily.

"You're right, I shouldn't have asked. But like I was saying, this is a very special school. Sometimes, Neku…sometimes, when people are born, they're born with something special; we call it an X-gene." Neku gave him a strange look. Charles chose to ignore it in favor of continuing.

"The people who have this gene are given special gifts. These special gifts can be anything…and I want to give them a school to help them master their gifts."

"So…you think I have one of these special gifts?" Neku raised an eyebrow. Charles nodded in response.

This was the stage where he expected yelling, disbelieving laughter, criticism; anything really, because nobody really reacted positive to the news of being different. But he didn't receive any of that from Neku. Just silence, and a thoughtful look. Neku seemed to be piecing something together in his mind. But eventually it returned to a neutral expression.

"Even if I did have a… 'special gift', I can't leave Shibuya, sir. Not now, not ever." He looked straight in Charles's eyes. "You have to understand, I can't leave the city."

"I understand that leaving home can be very difficult. But, I assure you that you will love the Xaiver Institute."

"No, it's not that," Neku replied. How could he explain it to someone like this man in front of him? Those difficult weeks; learning to trust people, having that trust broken…and mended together again. The constant music of the city that was never dark. This large, beautiful place, so unique that you'll never find another like it…

And it wasn't just the city, but the people inside of it. Each person's different; they look different and have their own personalities that only really suit them. When Neku was playing the Game, he read people's minds and he knows; each of them have different thoughts, different lives that all somehow manage to stay separate in this crowded city.

Neku did not just live in Shibuya.

Neku breathed Shibuya.

Like Mr. H always told him; enjoy the moment, live life to it's fullest, expand your world. But how can he do that without his city…

…Without his friends?

"I know you'll have to think about it for a while," Charles said, though Neku was still lost in his thoughts. "Please, let me know when you've come to a decision."

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(1) I got this from a fic called "Peripheral Vision". It's by a very good TWEWY author by the username of Umi No Kanshisha; READ IT! Their writing is soooo much better than mine!

(2) I've watched X-Men: Evolution since I was a very small child and I noticed that no matter where they were going, they always got there and back in less than a day on the X-Jet, so I'm guessing it can go super fast or something.

(3) (a) Neku's parents don't remember that he died, because Joshua changed their memories. They thought that he went to the hospital after being shot and spent three weeks recovering in there.

(b) "Cujo" is a novel by Stephen King. I've never read it, but my sister told me it's good.

(4) (a) Kaio is a high-level, smart and wealthy school with a good reputation in Hikaru no Go, so I'm stealing the name.

(b) I figure since Neku didn't have any friends before, he had a lot of time to study for school. Plus, in week two, he randomly said the square root of 3 off the top of his head; that's not normal.

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Yay! My first crossover fic's first chapter is DONE! Woo-hooo ^^ With my retarded computer and little understanding of how to publish a story, I somehow managed this! Yay!

Let me know what you think. No, seriously, there's a button on his page that will let you review my fic. Please review.