A Tragedy

Genre: Fanfiction
-Series: The World Ends With You
-Pairing: Kinda Megumi x Joshua, but if you don't like that pairing just ignore the very end lolol

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Brief glimpses of memory filled Joshua's vision. Dimly lit hallways lined with lockers bearing dull-checkered floors and walls yellowed with age.

He had felt like this once, way back then. Before all that composer stuff. When life had been both simple and torturous.

But how? And why? What exactly was he feeling right now? Pain, that was for sure. But what had caused it? And… what had caused it back then?

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Joshua opened his eyes to two things. A plain white ceiling, still tainted with the blur of dream, and a cruel overwhelming welcome back to pain.

Joshua heard the soft pitter patter of footsteps, and despite the absolute pain, he managed to shift his gaze to the hospital room's door, and the angry woman standing a few feet in
front of it.

"Moth…er?…" asked Joshua, his weak voice echoing eerily off the walls, and although the voice was his, the word had said itself as if Joshua wasn't in control of this body, but simply observing the scene through the injured boy's eyes.

The woman nodded sternly and took a few steps so she was directly in front of Joshua. She stayed still for a few moments, as if deciding what course of action she should take, and then with lightning fast speed, raised a hand and slapped Joshua hard across the face.

Joshua closed his eyes, the pain of the slap pushing him over his tolerance level, and slowly brought up a shaking hand to his stinging cheek. "I'm sorry…" he heard himself whine.

He cracked open an eye to see his mother nodding again. "That's right." She huffed, placing her delicate hands on her hips. "Because who's fault is this?"

Mark's and Leon's! Joshua screamed inside his mind. It's their fault I'm in this condition!

But Joshua knew his mother. And she wouldn't accept that as an answer. So… "It's my fault…" Joshua murmured instead.

"What?" Joshua's mother asked, angrily tapping her foot.

Joshua squeezed his eyes shut, struggling not to cry in front of his mother, but the tears came anyway. "I said it's my fault." Joshua said a little louder.

"Yes, Joshua, it's your fault." His mother scowled. "It's your fault you let those boys jump you and it's your fault your father and I needed to pay for you to be X-Rayed. You're just lucky nothing's broken because if we'd had to pay for a surgery, I would NOT have been happy."

"I-I'm sorry…" Joshua whimpered. "I-It won't happen again, Mother…"

Joshua's mother crossed her arms, nodding sternly. She then turned around and left the room, muttering angrily to herself.

Joshua felt some more hot tears trickle down his cheek as his mother left him, leaving her only son to die there, in that hospital room, his frail body simply not strong enough to handle the constant abuse from both his classmates and family.

Joshua let out a few weak coughs after she had left, slowly closing his eyes to welcome death. Joshua would die in this room. He would make sure of it. After all, he knew what waited for him after death. He had seen it. And finally, he would get to live it.

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As the dream-like memory started to fade, the pain Joshua felt only became greater, the feeling fading in his limbs as all the pain he was feeling concentrated in his temple, built up, and burst, spreading spasms of pain all throughout his skull.

Joshua struggled to open his eyes, but only managed to open one of them in a crack, and even that was too much for him. Before he could sort out the blur of colors to decipher his surroundings, another jolt of pain shot through his skull and he was forced to close his eye again.

Joshua gritted his teeth in pain, slowly raising a frail hand to his head to ease some of the stress. What he felt did not please him. His entire forehead was covered in a single large gash. He nervously inspected it, shaky pianist's fingers poking and prodding the wound.

And then a thought struck him. Joshua's eyes flitted open with shock, despite the pain that caused, and he slowly brought his hand down in front of his face. His fingers were caked in hot, sticky blood.

Joshua's eyed widened, and he frantically rubbed his hand against his shirt to get the stuff off of him. "B-blood…" he whined. "I-I'm… I'm bleeding… I…"

Joshua tried to scramble into a sitting position, but his hands slipped on the leathery surface beneath him.

"Sir?!"

Joshua preformed the closest action one could to jumping while lying down, turning slightly to see his conductor towering before him, his arms filled with bandages, bactine, and other medical supplies.

"M-Megumi?…"

The conductor's expression hardened, and he kneeled down to Joshua's height, setting most of the supplied down onto the floor. "S-Sir? Are you alright?"

Joshua's eyes hardened then, snapping up to meet Megumi's gaze. "No, I'm not alright!" he growled, wincing from the pain his tone had caused him. "I'm bleeding, Megumi…" he whimpered, tears stinging the corner of his eyes. "Of course I'm not alright…"

Megumi simply blinked, not at all used to this kind of behavior from his superior. He shook his head after a few moments, though, pouring some bactine on a cotton swab and gently tended to Joshua's wound. "I-I'm sorry, Sir."

Joshua squinted, gritting his teeth as the bactine met his wound. "Megumi, it stings!" he whined.

Megumi winced at the Composer's exclamation, finishing with the wound as fast as he could. "Y-Yes, I know. I'm sorry, Sir."

Joshua loosened up with a shaky sigh as Megumi finished, removing the cotton swab from the Composer's forehead.

"Megumi… how did this happen?" Joshua asked after a bit.

Megumi frowned a bit. "You don't remember?"

Joshua shook his head, causing his conductor to stifle a sigh. "Well…" he began. "Minamimoto he, ah… offered you some wine and-

"I didn't…" Joshua interrupted with a groan. "Please tell me I didn't."

"Y-You did, Sir."

Joshua sighed. "So I wound up wasted then, hmm?"

Megumi nodded. "Y-Yes."

A few more moments of awkward silence went by before Joshua spoke again. "…And then what?"

"Well…" Megumi sighed, awkwardly rubbing his arm. "Minamimoto was intoxicated as well and he… basically tried to kill you, Sir… Your wound is from where he bashed your head against the corner of a glass table…"

Joshua groaned and then took a moment to struggle into a sitting position and look around. They were in the pad. Joshua had assumed as much, but it was nice to be able to confirm it.

"And I assume you took me here, then?" Joshua asked after a few moments.

Megumi nodded. "Of course. I needed to get you away from Minamimoto."

Joshua sighed and patted a spot on the couch beside him, motioning for Megumi to sit down, which he did. "I suppose I owe you a thank you then, hmm?" asked the Composer.

Megumi chuckled. "No need, Sir. I was only doing my job."

Joshua giggled at that, delighted at how loyal his conductor was. Although… the Composer stifled another sigh. "That's all you ever do, Megumi…" he muttered sadly, not really sure what this strange new wave of emotion was. "Have you no will of your own?"

Megumi chuckled again, smiling at how childish and sincere his superior was in this injured state. "Well what would you do if you were in my place?"

Joshua's eyes flashed with annoyance at Megumi's answering his question with a question of his own, but he decided to play along anyway. He shrugged. "Knowing me, I'd follow orders, but be as difficult about it as possible."

Megumi raised an eyebrow. "Would you? If you did one thing to bother the Composer, he could erase you in an instant."

Joshua started to shrug again, but then brought his hand back up to his temple as another spasm of pain jolted through his head.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Megumi asked, quickly placing an arm on the Composer's shoulder.

Joshua shook his head after a moment or two, gently pushing away his conductor's hand. "I'm fine. Anyway, that's not entirely true."

Megumi blinked. "What?"

Joshua rolled his eyes. "What you said about not bothering the Composer since he could erase you at any time he pleased. Do you… really feel that way Megumi?" he asked, struggling to keep the sadness out of his voice.

Megumi sighed, leaning back on the couch. "Sometimes."

"I-I wouldn't do that to you…" Joshua muttered to himself, going silent for a few moments before speaking again. "A-Anyway…" he said awkwardly, desperately trying to hide how much Megumi's simple statement had hurt him. "I suppose you've got a point. It'd be difficult to purposely irritate your superior. It'd be possible… but definitely difficult."

Megumi grinned. "So how would you do it?"

Joshua giggled. "Please, Megumi. Like I would tell you. I wouldn't want you using that against me or anything."

Megumi chuckled, but other than that, it was silent for a few more minutes as the two sat there, lost in thought.

"Megumi?" Joshua asked after a while.

"What is it, Sir?"

Joshua sighed, leaning his head against his conductor's shoulder. "Stay with me until I recover."

Megumi blinked, feeling a slight blush crawl across his face. "O-Of course."

"…Promise that you will." Joshua murmured, feeling tears sting at the corner of his eyes again.

"I-I promise."

"…Good."