Notes: A bit of an expansion to something I wrote for a tumblr meme once...

i can't hear if you don't speak

(i can't speak if you won't hear)

Neku's phone starts to blink all night.

It's 3AM. There're four text messages and two missed calls. Neku supposes that they're not in that order, but they are in succession, minutes apart and laced with a sad sort of desperation, a composer's obsession to locate his muse. Neku wonders if Joshua will ever give up, will ever stop trying to reach him at odd hours of the night when they should both be asleep (does Joshua ever sleep?), or if maybe he'll grow a pair and come to see Neku in person, because hiding in dark hours and leaving voiceless messages is stupid and cowardly and Neku's not about to humor him.

So maybe it's naiive of him to treat Joshua like this. Maybe the time they've been away from each other has left Neku with the wrong impression, because Joshua's the Composer of Shibuya's underground and Neku's just some kid who's way behind on his schoolwork, and who's Neku to think that he's got any right to act above the divine? But you know what? Neku doesn't care; Joshua's being a dick and he doesn't care if everyone else is too scared or too uninvolved or-or whatever! Neku's not having it!

...That doesn't mean he won't read the texts, though.

hey

neku?

don't you ever take off your headphones and listen?

because i do have something to say

"Then say it to my face," Neku murmurs under the covers, and he powers off the phone and rolls over in bed.

It's 2AM. There're six text messages and four missed calls. Neku makes the mistake of leaving the phone on the desk and then he makes the mistake of leaving his ringer on, so every time the dumbass tries to grab a hold of his line, there's some sort of loud, obnoxious sound that echoes throughout the tiny apartment, and Neku's parents hear it. More than once they catch him staring at his phone at late hours on school nights, and eventually they take it away, because enough's enough, and nope, that's it, it's theirs' at midnight and he's not getting it back until the following morning.

Fair enough, Neku thinks, but he doesn't think he deserves it, because he's not doing anything and it's from people who's company he doesn't keep (people who don't keep his company), so it doesn't warrant any punishment. Neku's just... reading the texts. He's not responding.

(He hopes his parents won't read them, though).

ne~ku~kun~

oh, please, you can't possibly go to sleep this early

especially not with all those songs you listen to

they must be in your head all night and all day

neku

you really don't have to ignore me

Neku gives up and starts turning it off at 10PM, because Shiki and Beat are asleep anyway, so unless there's an emergency there's nothing useful to expect.

There's one message.

god dammit, neku, it's not even like it was that bad, okay, it all ended up nicely, didn't it, you can't say that you regret what happened.

One day, he wakes up to a voice mail. The number is blocked and it's probably some more junk from that company that's been calling about his non-existent car insurance, but there's still that little bit of doubt and Neku listens to it on the way to school while Shiki fidgets with the buttons on his uniform, because honestly, Neku, do you not understand anything about maintaining your clothes?

"Neku," the message starts, and then there's something like knocking, and there's a slam as something hits the ground, followed by, "The Composer is busy," and a strangled scream.

It's 4PM. There are no missed calls or voice mails or messages. Neku dials the number. It's answered on the first ring.

"Neku, you—"

"Hey, douchebag. Stop calling."

"No."

"—When normal people are asleep."